The Fifth
by CalliopeMused
Summary: [AU] The Titans saved the world again by defeating Trigon. Business as usual, even if demons are new. Not one, however, knows what to do when the villain leaves without his daughter.
1. Prologue

_I don't own the Titans. If that changes, I'll be sure to let you know. This is just a tease-chapter: what's wrong with this scene? Leave a few lines with your impressions. Reviews make writers happy; happy writers write faster. Don't just ask for updates- let me know what you like and what you don't.  
_

* * *

"Robin! Now?" 

"You can do this, right?"

"Yes. You're a lightweight, and a pteranodon could carry Cy- no offense, man, you just weigh more than Robin. Yell out any orders- I'll hear you. Cyborg, you're ready?"

"Ready."

"Starfire, BB's going to take me up. You won't need your arms?"

"No, Robin, I will not."

"I hope not, if she's carrying me around- I'm too heavy for a parachute. We go in and flank, right?"

"Right- go for the smaller one. Ready?"

"I am not sure that I like this plan."

"We might feel bad if we do this- but it's Armageddon if we don't, and we're on this team to take down any threats to this city. This plot's against way more than one little California coast town."

"Guys, we don't have long. I can't talk once I'm flying around- but I can say now that the small one looks more than capable of taking us down given a chance. The big one- well, I'd believe he really is what he says he is, but the little one looks possible to beat. I won't be able to hover forever- are we good?"

"I've got enough juice left to knock the small one for a loop."

"I understand, and I will be able to do this. It just will not be pleasant."

"Like fighting me that one time, I know- but you had to, Starfire. I wouldn't have stopped for anyone, when I was that beast."

"I have to give the order, then?"

"I believe it is most fitting, Robin, as you are our leader. And if this is to be our last fight- let us make sure that we are remembered."

"BB, get ready for it- the little one's glowing again. Titans, GO!"


	2. Chapter 1

_I had the idea in May of 2006. In March of 2007, I found the plot. Let me know what you think._

**Chapter One**  
Later, it was called a fight for the ages to remember. For that day- they only knew that they were in the fight of their lives. The newspapers later questioned the superheroes about the dramatic last battle an enterprising reporter had caught on camera. The film was already the highest-price tape sold for broadcast, and the filming reporter had enough impetus to land an anchor seat on her pick of networks.

The fight was called amazing, but Robin shrugged off congratulations as a brilliant tactician. He had operated on a guess that the big villain of the day was near invulnerable. The little one had bled and winced when a birdarang slashed a line into a raised arm. He explained his reasoning only to his teammates, when they had a moment alone. They understood.

The attack had been simple. A full-on assault on a pair of villains that had bested them in five separate earlier fights was insane- but it worked. A pteranodon had dropped Robin right next to the little one on top of a narrow spire. As expected, a circular platform with a four foot radius left the little one much more susceptible to a real fight. That close- it was physical combat, and her mind tricks with matter were slower than he was. Robin was the distraction.

Cyborg hit her with all he had, a blast of sound. Robin's earplugs saved him from the worst effects, and the blast of concussive sound had made her hesitate for a moment. That was enough for Starfire to aim. Robin jumped back, ready for Beast Boy to catch him. Even prepared, the feel of a pteranodon grabbing onto one's cape was not something that ever could be anticipated.

"Up and over, BB- let's see if little one's resistant." They had been fighting against the pair for four days. Little one and big, the terrible two, mini-villain and not-so-mini-villain- they had quite a few names for their opponents. Most were even polite.

Robin threw four containers towards the raised platform; Starfire vaporized them in midair. Wind blew the gas away almost immediately, but Cyborg had been watching their target.

"Mini's hyperventilating, guys- keep going, Star. Some of that gas went to good use."

A few more blasts of green light shook the ground below the villain's feet. Mini stumbled forward, catching herself at the last moment.

"BB, I think I can finish this- I think that if mini's out, something will happen. We need to finish this before Big finishes wrecking downtown and gets all protective." Robin still hadn't given the order.

"Robin, go on," Starfire said. "Just- use your staff."

"Right." Robin had his footing a moment after Beast Boy set him down. Set-down was a vulnerable moment, but Beast Boy compensated by staying ready to dive in to help. He drew it and stepped forward, for once hesitant. The last time he had brought out a bo staff, mini-Big had wrapped it around a lamp pole, and then thrown the pole at him. This time- just a half-step back, a little closer to the edge.

Beast Boy landed beside him. "Go on, Robin- this could be a trick." It hurt to say it- but it had to be a trick. Little One was even losing the markings that glowed whenever she was about to pull a very nasty trick and say words that made earth ripple, air shimmer, water sizzle, and fires burn.

Cyborg was at the other edge. "Back us up, Star- you still have energy, right?"

"Correct. No humorous business will pass beyond me."

"Robin."

That was all he needed. Robin swung his extended staff in a brief arc. _Crack. _Mini-villain crumpled. Beast Boy flew Cyborg down to the ground with a few half-hearted grumbles, then returned for Robin. Starfire was topside when the Big Guy noticed. As she explained later, smiling shyly at television cameras, it was as if he suddenly realized something. She saw the symbols flashing light all around the ruined town flare once before they began to fade.

Everyone in Jump City heard Big Guy's yell. No one was sure what he said- but Starfire felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up, just like everyone else's, and she saw glowing marks (glyphs, she amended later when the proper term was explained) fill the air. A ray of light reached Big Red, as the villain thundered towards them. When the light touched him, he stopped, frozen. A portal opened beneath him, starting from some center between his feet and opening to an ever-shifting circle. He sank into it, reaching for the little one all the while.

The demon apprehended by Starfire and the other Teen Titans remained in police custody. Her identity remained a mystery. National papers were quick to point out that the Federal Bureau of Investigators and Central Intelligence Agency had officers in place, to retain control of a possibly dangerous situation.

The Teen Titans had told their account of the story too many times. Finally, the Jump City police chief had seen enough. He called a halt to the press conference, chiding the reporters that the heroes were tired after fighting for four days. The Titans were free to leave, after a few moments of acknowledging applause and a few weary smiles for the chief. The Tower was a wreck, but four hotel rooms had been reserved for them.

"I don't know," Beast Boy said, before they went into their separate rooms. "What we did, at the end- that didn't feel good."

"We had to, though," Robin said. "You saw me hesitate. The demon just about ripped me into two pieces that first day- but when I fought her, she didn't know how to react. She's not used to anyone being close to her, I guess. She was only blocking on instinct. Good, for instinct, but she hasn't had any training."

"But, when it comes down to the end of matters- she was young, but she was a young demon," Starfire said. She was sure, now. "She came to our world to attempt the domination of this planet, with the more powerful demon. We protected people."

Cyborg yawned- there was no other way to remind everyone that they all needed sleep, and he was too exhausted to be polite. "We have to go down to the station, tomorrow? The chief wants a few metahumans around- and don't get that look, Robin, you count. You lived with Batman and came out relatively sane. We're going to be there in case the new prisoner of the week causes trouble."

"You do mean when, correct?" Starfire asked. "She is alone, and a prisoner to people who do not have her comfort in mind."

"Well, that'll make for easy sleeping," Beast Boy said, loudly enough to startle a moment of thought. "We should be ready, though. She might not have been so hot at hand-to-hand combat, but she's not surprised now. She's cornered. The demon will be more dangerous when her back's against a wall."

"How do you know?" Cyborg asked.

"It's instinct. She's going to want to fight or run, and she can't do either," Beast Boy explained. "And since I'm tired, our tower's wrecked, and I haven't slept in four and a half days, I'll go to bed without a discussion on proper police protocol for demons."

"All in favor?" Robin asked through a yawn.

Starfire already had her door open. She counted four hands in the air. "For once, all agree with Beast Boy. Nights that are well, everyone."

"Good night, Star."

"Night, Starfire."

"Wake-up calls at nine A.M.," Robin told the team. "I'll call them in- the chief gave us an extra hour, but we can't rest too long. The Justice League's heroes are spread thin enough as it is."

* * *

"Восьмой демон Ада!" 

The Titans heard the yell from the lobby of the police station. Before the phrase was finished, they were on the move, Starfire in the lead. She burst into the closed room just as one enterprising officer swung a manual.

By the time four Titans were in the doorway, the senior officer was giving orders. "I don't know exactly what just happened, but Jenkins is on unpaid leave for at least three days. I told the idiot we would waited for backup- just because the skin wasn't glowing… I want two people to pack off all injured to the hospital, one more on paperwork." He paused, making sure that everyone was busy. "And- Henderson, please warn the janitors that we have heavy damage in the secure room." That took care of all officers. "Titans, glad you could make it. Unfortunately, my senior detective decided that he could handle our suspect."

Robin nodded, trying to at least look the part of a team leader. "What happened in here, sir? We were signing in at the lobby when we heard- something."

"This one's trouble, as I've said before- but the CIA's guy wasn't ready yet, so the high-up orders were to give the beginnings of a standard third degree. Name, accomplices, motives- we know most stuff, but it's a good way to get a hold on what she would tell us- and if she speaks a lick of recognizable tongue." He gestured to the room. Several of the chairs that had been around the rectangular metal table would only serve as abstract art, or large paperweights.

"Jenkins didn't wait for the metas. Her skin was still redder than boiled lobster, but the little glowing sign-things were gone. She's been kept pretty well away from people, on account that no one knows what we're supposed to do with a demon- I don't suppose you guys would know?"

"You might call Batman, in Gotham," Robin said. "I know that he has a few files on demons."

"Al Ghul, right? Yeah, that's true- but she's different. She was awake before we got in, and she glared at us with all four eyes. To get the important bit from what I'll be writing on reports, he took out the gag. She played nice for a second, little red eyes going wide- so Jenkins relaxed. She saw a chance, she took it.

"She said those little words the whole station must have heard, and suddenly the ground's shaking, chairs are bending, and I have seven injured. Five of them were unconscious by the time Henderson whacked our guest with a book. Impolite, I know- but that's not in the official report, and we really did not need a containment breach."

"Three words and she took out five?" Cyborg asked.

"We thought if she couldn't move her hands, that might stop her. Turns out that she just needs to start yelling her magic words- someone has a recording, and we have about two dozen CIA linguists trying to figure out the language and the meaning." He glanced at the unconscious subject. "When she said that, the glow-marks came up again. They've gone again, for now. When she wakes, I want you four here and ready with an all-senior team."

"Who do you want covering the demon?" Robin asked.

"You and Beast Boy," the chief said. "If Starfire will work with us, maybe a friendly female face will help out- the last team was all guys, since Jenkins decided Carmen should sit this one out. Cyborg, you're the closest we can get to someone who can be objective. Can you try figuring out what she's saying?"

"I don't know how well I'll do," Cyborg said. "I haven't caught a single hint."

"Neither can all our linguists," he said frankly. "I know it's a bit of a risk, having you here- she might not like you. But, we had another idea. You've beaten her before, and she knows it. Whatever else is going on in that red head of hers, she's smart enough to give herself some room before acting up."

"I believe that she will not respond well to threats," Starfire said, trying not to look too uncomfortable as she took a seat. She should be less affected, but the sight of the restraints was almost too much. It wasn't the same, of course. This demon had attempted to destroy the earth. Starfire banished recollections of just how much damage she had caused after landing on the planet.

"I don't know where your senior team is, but she's coming around," Robin said. "She either didn't get hit hard or she recovers fast, but she'll be up in a minute."

"Carmen," the man said into a cell phone. "I need you in here- forget the new equipment, she's not going anywhere."

An exasperated detective walked into the room, arms full of electronics. "Yessir," she said, making a mock salute after she dropped the equipment on the table. "Joe, we need this. I can have these cameras going in a minute- they're camouflaged, just to make sure that our suspect can't see them. I want to be able to check her reactions without bothering her."

"Carmen, she just took out seven people. Do we really want to worry about bothering her?"

"That's all the more reason to be considerate," she maintained. "Sure, she's a demon- but she's young. Everyone from the Justice League agreed that she's twenty at most, with how demons age. The Titans are- what? Sixteen?"

"Going on seventeen, for some of us," Cyborg agreed. Starfire was the oldest, they thought. Tamaranean years didn't translate very well.

"She's about their age. That's half the reason I want them here. Whatever happened yesterday- I'll figure it out. The CIA can theorize until their brains finally mildew, but I want to have a neat report to send in. Nobody's making this department look bad," Carmen said fiercely.

Starfire drew a final deep breath, pleased that her moments of unease were unnoticed.

"Are you okay, Starfire?"

Or not- the detective did make a living of observing people. "I am fine, detective. Such cold rooms merely make me uncomfortable," she said. Starfire was happiest in the sunlight- far away from strong restraints that could probably hold _her_ in place.

"There's a thought," Carmen said. "Joe, turn the heat up in here- I don't care about the usual policy, we could be making our demon irritable. Tell central to put this room at seventy-four. If we're lucky, we'll hit seventy."

"Carmen, you've seen the badge, right? I'm chief around here."

"Yet I'm still bossing you around. I'm senior detective, and will continue to harass you in all small ways I can think up until you get Jenkins away from me. That man nearly botched my investigation- and you believed him when he said that I was sitting out, didn't you? I _told_ him not to talk to her yet." Carmen's movements were rougher than necessary as she put the second disguised camera on the door.

"I'm sorry, Carmen, really, but I can't just organize a demotion," Joe said. "He'll be suspended with pay while his record is searched for precedents. He disobeyed orders and got officers injured. Sophie, that brave woman that organizes my paperwork, thinks we could get him knocked to another precinct with the right pressure."

"You know I'd still override my authority, right?"

"Only way to get stuff done," Joe said.

"She's waking up," Beast Boy said quietly. There was no need to get excited. People were like animals with body language, and demons just might be the same. Move slowly, keep where they can see you, don't go in the blind spot, and make sure you know what makes them anxious.

"No more cops," Joe said. "This is unorthodox, but I'll have someone write this off later."

"I'll close the doors," Cyborg said, for the excuse to stay near the two humans in the room. Starfire would cover Robin, Cyborg would watch the officers, and Beast Boy could take care of himself if the situation got out of control. They had been together long enough to know strengths, priorities, and standard plans.

"You're awake, aren't you?" Carmen asked the demon after a minute. "That's okay. Fake all you like, but your heartbeat's a bit quick for sleeping." Her heartbeat was fast for anything- the demon's heart was moving at the rate of a non-conditioned human doing strenuous exercise, showing little gain from when she was unconscious. She didn't react or move from her slumped-forward position until Robin gently touched her shoulder.

Her head snapped upright, and all four blazing eyes glared at Robin. The red marks on her arms flared bright again, matching the glow on her bare abdomen. Robin took a careful step back. She turned to look at Beast Boy, who met her gaze. If he admitted that she was dominant now, he'd never get anything out of her.

She looked away first, to stare at the two humans in the room not in strange colors. The humans who hadn't beaten her in a fight were far away, at least two fast jumps.

"If we let you speak, will you cooperate?" the silver-haired human male asked, prompted by the other human. She glared at him, watching as he refused to squirm. He had seen what she could do, but he was willing to try again. She inclined her head, which seemed to be an answer.

It was the green boy who undid some clasp at the side they would not let her see. "Если Вы тронете меня снова, то я вызову фаворитов, чтобы раздеть плоть от ваших костей," she snarled. He didn't smile or frown- he just met her gaze.

"Will you cooperate?"

"Я буду сотрудничать, пока Вы не угрожаете моей жизни."

"We can't understand you," the human female said. "I'm Carmen. What's your name?"

"Ворон."

"I do not speak your language," Carmen said. "Do you understand mine?"

"Да."

"Does that mean yes?" she asked.

"Да."

"Will you help us understand what happened yesterday?"

"Номер."

"Does that mean no?"

"Возможно."

Starfire waited for Carmen to get tired of the rounds of questioning. The demon was making circles from her words. "May I try?" she asked.

"Go ahead," Carmen said, still combing through notes. Something had to be helpful. She had a name, affirmative response, and a suspect with an attitude.

"I am Starfire. I regret that we met on a field of battle, and I wish to understand why we were forced to fight. Confinement is no fate for anyone born free," she said, almost fiercely. Starfire just wanted the demon to know she understood.. "Your father spoke in the English. Can you do this also?"

"Почему Вы желаете знать?"

"If you phrase a question in English, I may attempt to answer," Starfire said. "Please, I want to understand."

"Оставьте меня, Сильная Женщина. Мой отец приедет для меня."

"May I know your name?"

"Ворон, Сильная Женщина."

"What is Сильная Женщина?" Starfire asked, stumbling in pronunciation.

The demon nodded forward, as if pointing with her forehead. The gem between her higher eyes glinted.

"Is it I?" Starfire asked.

"Да."

"Which means yes?"

"Да."

"Please, could you nod your head? On earth, that strange custom equates with yes."

The demon paused, then nodded once. "Я буду сотрудничать."

"She's said that before," Cyborg said. "If I can figure out yes, no, and a pronoun, I'll call it a day's work."

"Please, will you attempt this language?" Starfire wheedled as two eyes on the demon's forehead seemed less distinct. "It is difficult to learn the grammar, but only practice will help you create perfection."

Four eyes narrowed. "I know your language, and your grammar." The words were spoken with a strange accent, but they were English. The demon glared, daring anyone to comment.

"Why did you attempt to destroy the world?" Starfire asked. She should have been more surprised, but the demon understood spoken English perfectly well. Speaking the language was no great leap.

"For my father."

"Why does your father wish this?" Starfire pressed on when there was no answer. "He left you, when you were stricken. Can you not decide on a new course of action?"

"That is enough for today," the demon said, chin high. She was too tired to keep her mind carefully blank. There were telepaths in the station. She needed to keep her mind shielded. "Восьмой демон Ада, не забывайте меня."

"But what is your name?" Starfire asked, before the demon could ignore them all. The three words were there, but no sense of danger.

"Ворон, which translates to your tongue with some accuracy."

"What does it mean?" Starfire asked. Carmen was already making notes that Starfire was a chief interrogator. Starfire guessed that the demon wished for someone to seem to care. Too many would make promises that wouldn't be kept.

"If you tell me, I will leave you alone for the day." She glanced at Carmen; the detective nodded. "So shall the others."

Starfire pushed just a little more; the demon looked hesitant, not angry. "Please, might I know what to call you?" Starfire was about to give up when the demon finally answered.

"Raven."


	3. Chapter 2

_If you don't hear from me soon- I have two weeks left of university class, and then finals. The end is near, so all the professors love to give research papers/assignments/presentations. Bio lab is my second dorm, I have two papers to write this weekend, and reviews will be appreciated even more than usual.  
_

**Chapter Two**  
Keeping a mob of journalists at bay was not, Carmen Davis decided, a one-woman job.

"No comment, no interviews, you already heard the chief's press conference, and any bribe you try offering should be worth the jail time it'll buy you."

That shut most of them up. She was a veteran cop with all of seven years under her belt. She had been the right person in the right place when the right time came around. Usually, she couldn't be happier. Usually, she wasn't the spokeswoman and leading investigator on a high-profile case.

Most of the reporters were clearing out. She didn't need a cop's perception to know that one was behind her.

"Officer, what's the status on your promotion? Best case record in-"

"Williams?" Carmen took a long sip of her coffee. She'd heard it before.

"Yes?"

"What have I said about buttering up the officer?" Carmen asked.

"'Back, cretin,' 'don't get between a cop and her coffee,' and 'not in uniform.'" Brandon Williams paused, the back of his pen tapping against his chin. "Today, at least."

"Is that it? I thought I'd said something about your tie. I should have, at any rate. That is a positively atrocious design."

"You're breaking my heart, Davis. You insult my tie, ignore the perfectly horrible pickup line I saved just for you, and still won't give me a chance to see you out of that uniform."

She took another sip of cooling coffee to hide a smile. "Out of the uniform? In your dreams- and I don't want to hear about those." He blushed, of course, and stammered something about how he hadn't meant that, so she threw him a line. "Get out of here, Williams. The only news is that the Titans will be in on the investigation."

"Come on, Davis, I haven't had a scoop in weeks."

"You only get scoops when I drop a couple names?" Carmen shook her head, pretending disappointment. "Williams, go find your own stories. I have a job to do."

"Always working, Davis?"

"Sure seems that way. Speaking of work, don't you have a deadline for the noon broadcast?"

"I have an hour."

"Not here you don't. Get your photographer to snap a few pictures of the Titans, if you need something for the screen. Stills are fine, no video," Carmen said.

"You're the best, Davis."

"I know, Williams- and what have I told you about buttering up the officer?"

"Buy a better tie first," he said. He only grinned when she rolled her eyes. "Thanks."

Carmen stayed in the lobby as she drank the last of the barely lukewarm coffee. She counted four flashes of a camera, and had already seen a disgruntled cameraman pack his equipment in the van. Reporters were annoying, but they were like lawyers. She had to deal with at least one, so she chose one that was more amusing than annoying.

"Titans," she said when they were through the door. "Thank you for coming on such short notice. Have you had breakfast?"

"We did before early practice," Robin said.

"I'll brief you over food, then." Carmen didn't expect protests. "What kind of cop would I be if I couldn't offer coffee and donuts? The break room's right down the hall. You're here to do us a favor, the least we can do is feed you. Coffee, juice, donuts, and muffins are all out, we can get tea or hot chocolate if you'd like."

"You mentioned a situation," Robin said when he had a cup of coffee and a chocolate-covered donut. It wasn't remotely healthy, but he needed the calories and Batman wasn't there to lecture about proper breakfasts.

"There wasn't a containment breach, but it could have been," Carmen said. "The experts keep estimating just how much power Raven has, and they keep guessing low. She doesn't need words to throw chairs and people around, so the technicians decided to risk quite a few curses. Long story short, the morning was going as expected. She avoided questions, wouldn't be tricked into saying much of anything, and spoke in her language whenever she was too irritated."

"You couldn't understand half of what came out of her mouth," Cyborg guessed.

"We could guess at about a third, assuming that we have yes and no straightened out." Carmen refilled her thermos. She had been in the station since oh-dark-thirty, and her day wasn't getting any shorter. "She refused breakfast, barely paid attention to her Miranda rights before quoting them back perfectly, and spurned the three lawyers who spoke to her. She drove one poor slob to tears. When I feel bad for a lawyer- well, that doesn't happen often."

"Why'd you call us in?" Beast Boy asked.

"The technicians were practically drooling at the thought of a blood sample. Comparisons, karyotypes, sequencing- they have all sorts of ideas, but Raven wasn't going to let anyone with a hypodermic near her. She picked up the table."

"The solid metal thing that seats twelve people?" Cyborg asked.

"That's the one. She shoved that up as a barricade and sent the other chairs flying through the air. The guys on monitor duty said she put everything back in place very neatly when everyone was gone, exactly back where the things had been."

"Visual powers?"

"That's what we think, Robin." Carmen had known the Titans could pick up the details. From what she heard, they were a very smart group. "She'll probably act like nothing unusual happened, but she gave us more information than she has all morning. She definitely doesn't need to speak to start throwing things around, she has extraordinary vision and perception, and she can be impulsive."

"You think that she'd talk to us?" Robin asked.

"I think that Raven will talk to Starfire." Carmen regretfully set her thermos aside. She really shouldn't have more than seven cups on one day. "She did at least give us a few useful things, earlier. We have no way of telling what she can do and what's a lie, but we do think she has the telekinesis, teleportation, empathy, and telepathy. Joe and I still can't be sure, but that's the best guess at this point."

"Who's who, around here?" Cyborg asked.

"I'm Carmen Davis. Somehow, the high brass decided that this is my case. The chief is Joe Caldwell. The other person you might see around is Sophie Wells. She coordinates cops, lawyers, and just about everyone else."

"When do you want us to start earning our breakfast?" Beast Boy asked.

"You've earned more than breakfast with what you do." Some cops thought the Titans were a hassle. Carmen would rather not tangle with Slade and the usual villains herself, thank you very much. "I'll call you in after a few minutes. I doubt that I'll have any problems, and I think that what I have to say will go over better if it's just Raven and me."

They didn't like the idea, but she didn't want an audience. She doubted she could make the deal with an audience other than the cameras. Joe agreed with her. He agreed after a few hours of arguing, perhaps, but no one else had a better idea. Carmen would just have to trust that if Raven really wanted to take someone out, she wouldn't waste that chance on her.

"Good morning, Raven." The room looked like it had that morning, except for a few scratches in the floor. Carmen had her gun, of course, but that was secure at her hip. A glass of orange juice and a key were in her hands.

"Haven't we been over this?"

"I'm cutting back on the coffee- you know, the foul smelling stuff that has several mind-influencing drugs in it," Carmen said cheerfully. This she could do. A little sarcasm, a sincere smile, and a few fast curveballs were much better than finding seventeen variations on 'no comment' to feed reporters. "You're not the type to do anything for free, so let's make a bargain."

"What kind of bargain?"

"It's an easy one," Carmen said. She couldn't quite manage blithe, but she came close. Okay, Carmen. Just like talking the boys into letting you pitch at the sandlot- talk fast, pick up the ball, and throw a curve right past the batter before they say girls can't pitch.

"You promise to not throw things around unless your safety or personal space is compromised. If you must persuade people, you don't leave more than bruises. You also start eating meals regularly, so no one cries foul about the inhumane treatment." She didn't trust the demon, precisely. Carmen trusted that the demon could think logically, which was much better.

While Raven was still trying to find the catch, the key slipped into the lock. Carmen had convinced Joe that it just might help. Raven caused damage when she couldn't move- maybe she'd feel less threatened if she could.

Carmen was fast. She could get cuffs on a recalcitrant gangster in eighteen seconds flat, if he thought that he could use more than bluster against a lady cop. If he wasn't looking for a fight, she could spin him around, shove, clip, twist, and snap in seven.

Twenty seconds later, she had the attention of a wary demon. Carmen moved the glass of orange juice closer. "So, what do you say?"

"You are very strange."

She smiled, lounging back in the chair. She had told Joe. Carmen loved it when her gut was right. "It's been said. So, interested in lunch? All that I want in return is a little less of interior redecoration." The earlier questioners had made a severe mistake. They had tried to use simple words, which wouldn't do at all.

Carmen looked from Raven to the glass. "No poison. Want me to take a sip?"

"As if I would share with a human."

"That's the part where I'm supposed to be offended?" Carmen needed information, but rushing would get her nowhere. "The Titans just might drop in to talk. Do you think you'd listen if they were nice enough to bring lunch?"

The juice was gone. After one cautious sip, it had disappeared quickly.

"Perhaps I would listen," Raven allowed.

From what Carmen had read, there had been non-stop fighting for four days. This was the second day without any combat- which meant that Raven hadn't eaten for six. Carmen wouldn't touch calculus with her flashlight, but she managed addition just fine.

"We're five minutes from a college town, which means everything under the sun delivers." Carmen promised herself she wouldn't gloat too much, but she might have just made some progress. "What's for lunch?"

* * *

Carmen didn't know just what she had expected when Beast Boy, carrying the tray with six drinks, had tripped over the leg of Starfire's chairs.

It wasn't six cups landing delicately on the table, covered in black edged with bright light, while a circle of that same energy pushed Beast Boy back onto his feet.

"Nice save," Cyborg said, the only comment from the Titans. "You had the turkey sandwich, right?"

Carmen recognized that unnerved feeling. She wasn't afraid. Fear ran hot and ice cold. She was wary. Maybe she had grown up in a suburb of San Francisco, but her views of magic could stay conservative. She didn't like what she didn't understand. She wasn't a whiz at science by any means, but she liked laws. Gravity was gravity- and there was a sandwich flying through the air.

She would need at least three days to get used to this.

Carmen checked her list. She could have tried going by memory, but she saved room for other details. She had screwed up her back dragging a cop out of gunfire, old aches kept coming back, and sometimes she wondered why she ever had become a cop. Those moments were few, but the distance between them wasn't getting any longer. It was hard to get out of bed, some mornings. Twenty-seven years old, her family said, and nothing to show for it but scars and cynicism.

Her cell phone rang, right on cue. Open, shut, start figuring out which drink belonged to which person. The Davis side of the family wasn't so bad, but her mother's relatives were entirely too interested in comparing contributions to the family tree. Carmen's prissy cousin Estela was winning by a landslide with her firstborn and last month's triplets.

"This is the point at which we make small talk, correct?" Starfire asked. "Perhaps the talk is not so small, but I am curious. Would you tell us why you came to this city, Raven?"

Carmen had told the Titans that all the feds' horses and all the feds' men hadn't been able to get a useful word from Raven. Even the most exasperated hadn't been that direct.

"Real estate," was all the demon said at first. She ate very carefully, but finished faster than anyone else. "This property is in a very good location. It made an excellent entry point to survey the world." It touched the truth at a few points, as the best lies did. "My father might have knocked over a few buildings, but that happens when one is his size."

"How'd you end up such a small fry?" Cyborg asked.

"I am unfamiliar with that expression."

"You're small," Beast Boy clarified.

Raven glared over her water. "No smaller than you."

"My dad wasn't twice the height of a skyscraper."

"Strength is not measured only in size."

"In which ways is strength measured, in your experience?" Starfire asked.

Carmen listened to the conversation, of course. Starfire's explanation of her planet was interesting. Raven listened more than she spoke- but she was listening. The occasional comments about Raven's life didn't give away state secrets, but Carmen could finally start getting a better idea about the girl. Criminal charges were not at all likely. The county prosecutor was still in charge of the case, since the feds had only made a little noise about terrorism. He had agreed to drop charges in return for information they needed.

She wrote Raven's profile in her mind while Starfire spoke about a ritualistic fight. Long, slightly wavy hair about four inches shy of her waist in a dark shade of gray or black. Skin that settled to very pale gray from a vibrant red. Very few scars, with a prominent mark on her upper left arm. Hand-made clothing, by the puckering at the top of the sleeveless black shirt and the skirt's uneven hem that fell in an angle just below the knee. Short, uneven nails that probably had been bitten. Precise pronunciation, with more emphasis on vocabulary than current idiom.

Carmen could have a better guess at height and weight later. The hardest to guess was age. Demons probably aged differently than humans, but she didn't have any standards to adjust her guess of between fourteen and eighteen.

"Control would not shift to you, upon the death of your father?" Starfire asked.

"I could claim it, but so could anyone else. The way to keep sovereignty is to make sure that all know that you are the strongest. Anyone who beats the ruler in a fight has the opportunity to take power," Raven said.

"That seems most disorganized."

"Most of the strong demons are approximately half my father's height. There have not been close challenges for centuries." Raven had known that not all water smelled of heat and sulfur. She hadn't realized just how different it would taste when the water was cleaned after emerging from the underground source.

"How big are most demons?" Cyborg asked.

"Approximately one quarter of my father's size, or half of your Tower."

"How many are your size?" Robin asked.

"I am."

"Most don't fight with mentally-based powers?" Carmen noted the return of the glare in her notes. She wouldn't remember all the specifics, but she knew almost enough to start predicting reactions.

"Most demons prefer brute force," Raven said. "It's simplest. There is little subtlety, and no sense of honor. There are no crowns, and the only law is that the strong survive."

Education, Carmen added to her list. Books, lessons- something.

"This is all you have known? It seems very strange, to me." Starfire knew of only one people who relied on strength to determine government. She had no pleasant memories of the Gordanians.

"Everything."

Carmen wondered if any of the Titans noticed the tiny pause before Raven's response. They were a sharp group, but that didn't mean they knew which details to watch.

The Teen Titans showed no sign of leaving. Robin, Cyborg, and Beast Boy let Starfire handle most of the talking, which Carmen appreciated. Starfire could ask questions that would earn anyone else a glare in the best case scenario and get an answer. Carmen knew little information that the prosecutor would want, but they would get to that in time. For now, small steps would do- steps like not having any fuss when suggesting dinner.

There shouldn't have been a problem. Someone in the station would get them dinner, she would sit back and let the younger folk talk, and later she would get another "I told you so" for the record. Eventually, she just might be rid of a partner who didn't know a DNA sequence chart from a polygraph.

Cyborg noticed that only Raven's napkin had a design. Raven spread the napkin on the table, smoothing out the paper.

"What is it?" Robin asked.

"This," she said, "is the mark of Scath."

"What does it mean?"

Carmen didn't like the look of the odd-looking S written in red permanent marker one bit, even before she saw traces of a smile.

"I'll have a decent lawyer soon."

Raven would say nothing else about the matter. She let Carman keep the sample, she was polite when she refused any sort of common, and didn't seem to notice when Carmen angled it for a camera.

An hour later, the Titans went home.

Two hours after that, Carmen, Sophie, Joe, and everyone else in the station couldn't find anything else.

The symbol was the mark of Scath, and Carmen still didn't like it.


	4. Chapter 3

_There will be more dialogue than action for a while, but things won't get too boring. Writing this is much, much more fun than studying, but the latter is currently a priority. Chapters will come when inspiration lines up with free time. _

**Chapter Three  
**"Unacceptable."

"Excuse me?"

"Would you prefer smaller words, detective?" Raven asked.

_Remember, Carmen, the dentist has been harping on about how you grind your teeth. _

"I would prefer an explanation. This is the fourth attorney you have turned down. We have very few brave souls in the city that do pro bono work. However rich you might be in your home, you have no money here to hire a big shot lawyer." Carmen tried to remember that it was the right thing to do. The demon had the right to a lawyer, even if she was more irritating than the mayor's wife at a banquet.

"He might be able to argue his way out of a paper bag if a child had written the speech for him." Raven deigned to read the emotions Carmen was very loudly admitting. Condescension was an easy way to drive the detective crazy.

"Would you prefer to represent yourself at your hearing?" She was having a long day, and she was only halfway through.

"If I get a hearing." Raven's cool tone added more levels of frustration. "I thought I was being kept as an enemy combatant. You can't afford to put me at trial. There are far too many variables in a court. Fifteen at the very least would not be in uniform."

"Judge, jury, and lawyers," Carmen guessed.

"You do know that this won't be enough when my father comes for me."

"You've mentioned that."

Raven smiled prettily, showing sharp teeth to best advantage. "I hope for your sakes that you come to your senses by then. My father has better things to do with his time than vaporize police stations."

"Why hasn't he come already, if you'll satisfy a detective's curiosity?"

"Organizing an army takes time. I hope you don't think we would come alone if we meant dire business. The first visit was meant to size up just how much of a response we could draw. This," she said, nodding graciously at the holding cell, "was not planned, but it is a unique opportunity to see just how much dysfunction is present in your justice system. From what I have seen, I wonder if any criminals at all make it through trials. Your lawyers are hopeless."

"Do you have your own?"

Raven fixed her gaze on the detective. Carmen was an interesting woman, and one of very few earth dwellers not scared away after two visits. "Perhaps. If I hear from one of my people, I will let you know."

"Your people," Carmen said, begrudgingly amused. The demon had a very good grasp of popular language. "Of course you would have people. Who are they, the bar association?"

"That would be telling," Raven said, as close to happy as she would get in such circumstances. So few people could hope to keep pace in battles with words. "When I hear word, I will be sure that they let you know."

"Carmen." The voice from the receiver was distorted. Their radios weren't the best to begin with. Putting the words through a few magical shields didn't help. "Titans are in."

"Wonderful." Raven's flat voice suggested the visit was anything but. "I hope that they have realized I don't play nice? No one else understands that, detective," she said, feigning plaintiveness.

"Tell me something good, and then I can guarantee they won't transfer someone else in for me," Carmen said.

"Something for something?"

"A trade," Carmen agreed.

"What's in it for me? You might understand that I laugh at threats, but that's not worth what I know," Raven said. "You tell me what you want to know. I'll tell you what I want in exchange."

"That is not how interrogations work."

"I've been here for three days. You haven't had any progress, I'm willing to bet a few minutes of playing nice that the feds are breathing down your neck about not getting any information."

Indolent, sarcastic, uppity, clever little bitch of a demon. Not many hard-timers they had through the all-metal rooms held up half as well. Carmen was begrudgingly impressed, even when she just wanted answers. "Fine. We'll work something out later. The feds aren't breathing down my neck, however. My boss is getting the worst of that."

"Do you want me to play nice for a few minutes?"

Carmen smiled at the overdramatic expression. The 'bad cops' had all left the room before they hit the girl. The demon didn't respond to intimidation.

"Try not to be too vicious. You know teenage boys have delicate egos." The Titans had made progress in the first and second days before hitting a plateau. The third wasn't sounding any more promising.

"If a few words from a complete stranger can upset their self-esteem, they don't deserve egos," Raven said. She glanced at the door. It was at a horrible angle, but she could watch without being terribly obvious. She could focus her gaze without pupils giving away the direction. Carmen said something- more I'm-not-so-bad comments meant to help Raven relax. The cop didn't like her, exactly, but they had a mutual understanding after three days. Raven still didn't like the detective, of course.

That would be the day. She watched, and even craned her neck forward when the door was open to see- another door. The room didn't lead directly to a corridor. The police weren't as moronic as she had thought.

Raven scowled, just as the first Titan came in sight.

"Смазанные жиром Волосы," she said in greeting. If she sounded less than enthusiastic, it was because watching water evaporate was more intriguing than the leader of the city's pet team.

"You could just call me Robin."

"That would not fit you half as well," she protested with feigned friendliness. Her smile glinted false, and the full set of fangs made even the green man wary. "What are you here for today?" she asked.

"You know what we're here for," Robin said.

He was the leader for the reason. Leaders said the most and meant the least. "I'm a lazy telepath," she lied glibly. She had embellished on just how many powers she did have, and could read emotions well enough to guess thoughts. "Why don't you all play cops and tell me what I want to hear? Starfire can be the good cop, and everyone else can pretend they're tough."

"That is fine," Starfire said. "I do not believe that I would make an excellent cop, but I believe my part requires being nice."

"We're not bad people."

She ignored the emotions in Beast Boy's words. He and Starfire both gave off the same bright emotions, but Starfire's felt more honest. "Name the crime I committed, then. Self-defense?"

"You were destroying the city."

Three days, and Raven could recognize the leader's crime-is-wrong voice. "I defended myself."

"You aided and abetted in felony assault and destruction."

"There is no such crime as felony destruction." A blithe tone irritated Robin the fastest. Condescension was met with a crooked smirk, but not caring at all about laws hit something deeper. "You all know a jury would never convict me. If there was evidence enough to put me to trial, I would walk."

"I do not know the legal system," Starfire intervened. "Perhaps we could discuss other matters. If you were not destroying the city, Raven, why were you here?"

"Chaos, panic, destruction- the usual." Raven wouldn't let the alien trick her again. They knew more than enough.

"You and your father wished to work together for what purpose? Just mischief?"

"World domination, what else?" Sarcasm was the easiest, especially when it disguised the truth.

"Ever consider finding a new hobby, Raven?" Cyborg asked. "In our experience, plots to take over the world never work."

"Have not worked yet," Raven corrected.

"In plots like those, someone working for the takeover faction usually figures out that there's a better option out there," Cyborg said.

Raven's eyes narrowed. "You are not very subtle, Яркий Человек." She had named all of them in her language. They didn't need to know that most names were not at all derogatory. They were warriors, and she could respect them. Any lingering animosity towards their leader was a last remnant of their fight, and "Greased Hair" did fit Robin.

"I never said I was, Raven." Cyborg didn't like subtleties.

She was going to say something when four communicators rang.

"Trouble," Robin said, flipping open the screen to see details. "Two blocks south, at the museum," he continued as they were leaving.

"HIVE again?" Cyborg didn't need to open a communicator. "Usually they wait for night. Maybe they-"

The door cut away the rest of the conversation.

"You know, Raven, we could save all kinds of fuss for everyone, paperwork for the department, and overtime for me if you'd just tell us what's going on," Carmen said wearily. Joe had her staying late- again- so they could start to figure out the mess with Scath. They had already tried all databases in the country, so they were going international.

Carmen had told him that she spoke Mexican-influenced street Spanish, but that didn't matter. She was the contact for countries that spoke Portuguese, too, for crying out loud before beating the chief over the head with her translation guide. Portuguese was _not _the same as Spanish, thank you very much.

"Just how much overtime are you putting in? You look dead on your feet." Raven glowered when Carmen looked surprised. "Don't take that to heart, detective. You may be less annoying than others, but that means very little."

Carmen smiled. "Wouldn't dream of it," she lied. Raven wasn't as bad as she liked to pretend. "As for overtime, I'm spending fourteen hours at the station on a good day. I could put in less time if you'd give me a few details."

"How tempting."

"Can't wait, huh? Speaking of waiting, the bed in the corner is perfectly nice. Is floating in the air over it a preference?" Carmen had heard of people who slept sitting up, but sleeping in midair was new.

They thought she slept, at least. It was hard to tell.

"Habit," Raven said.

Carmen tapped a finger against her arm as she thought. Joe had been in for breakfast, she and the Titans had just had lunch with Raven two hours ago, and she had no idea why Raven was speaking in fragments. Carmen distracted herself by consulting a schedule tucked in her pocket. Nothing.

Carmen traced the next day's column with her finger. Joe had just put the request through. She would have a ridiculous amount of overtime and no sleep at all, if this kept up.

_There. _

She had thought something was different. Raven was rubbing at the base of her skull, near the spine. If that wasn't a sign of a headache, Carmen didn't keep Excedrin in her patrol car.

"Headache?" Carmen asked sympathetically. She liked problems that could be dealt with.

"I need to meditate," Raven said absently, before looking at Carmen sharply.

Carmen wasn't supposed to know that, apparently. She understood the logic behind that. Raven didn't need much. From what she knew, needing something was weakness; weakness was to be avoided at all costs.

"Not a bad idea." Carmen folded her schedule again. "Another lawyer might come in today. Could you please not make this one cry? I don't like lawyers, and I had to hide the last poor soul in my office while he recuperated."

"The human psyche- such a fragile thing."

"Demons are so much better?" Carmen didn't expect an answer.

"Not at all."

The expression said more than Raven had meant to, Carmen guessed. She tapped the digital clock on the tabletop instead of commenting. "Dinner is scheduled for seven. Is that enough time?"

"Seven thirty would be better."

"Seven thirty it is," Carmen said.

Joe could grouch all he liked. Small details were making all the difference, and he knew it as well as she did. Their standard protocols wouldn't work.

Speak of the devil- Joe was there to greet her when she stepped into the station's hallway. "Carmen, we found something on the lawyer who scheduled a visit. Huang has the lawyer's business card."

"I'll assume it's not tax fraud."

Joe shook his head. "There was a cute little picture in the upper left corner, next to a dividing line. Dark red metallic stripe with a strange-looking S at the edge."

"Scath."

"Two for two, Carmen. If you can get the next one- who knows. Can we nominate cops for sainthood?"

"Pull me off spokeswoman and I'll be happy," Carmen said. "What's the third, out of curiosity?"

"Where the hell did Nicole Tanis see this mark? I have two in research getting me her complete history, from labor complications to colic to tonsils to the last time she had a physical. Feds are a damned nuisance, but they can tell me what library books the woman checked out. It's too optimistic to think she read the symbol in some old book, but we'll know something about this woman."

Carmen bit her lip, hard, as she thought. Something about this fit too neatly. "I'm on it, Joe- and I do mean it. Get me off spokeswoman. I have enough on my plate without the reporters."

"Williams isn't so bad, is he?"

Joe backed off. The look Carmen gave him could melt the brass off his badge. "Got it. New spokesman for the department." He had the badge that said chief, but he wasn't going to win some fights.

Speaking of fights he wasn't going to win…

Joe looked over his office. He could rearrange things, he supposed. The cardboard box full of plaques could go on the walls. He didn't like them, but taking them home would send the wrong message- so they stayed in the box. One box wouldn't make the office a mess. Eight and an extra file cabinet managed very nicely.

"Nothing on the business card front so far?"

"Not yet, Sophie," he said. "Carmen was just coming out of the holding cell. She's on it."

"She's going home by ten," Sophie promised. "I don't care if we need her here. She needs to get her rest. She has a shift tomorrow starting at eight. I want her to get enough sleep. If nothing else- you'll save money."

"Overtime?"

"Worse. The station's coffee supply is running on fumes." Sophie rescued two files from a precarious position at the edge of his desk. Filing wasn't part of Sophie's job description. It was one of those unofficial duties that everyone at the station helped with. Joe was known for many things. Organization was not one of them, as shown by the boxes he had yet to unpack.

"You've had the job for three months," she chided, gently kicking a box for emphasis as she put the files away. "When are all your pretty shiny things going on the wall?"

"It'd be more work for the janitors."

"Nice try, Joe. The janitors have the dusting to do now, which leads to sweeping." She glanced at the papers on his desk. Someone else must have helped him out today. "I e-mailed my aunt about Scath, and forwarded her reply to you."

"Sophie-"

"Police business is to stay in the station, I know, but she's seen it before. She lives in Gotham. She can get a final answer to you in a couple days. My aunt has a mind like a steel trap with a slow spring." Sophie smiled when Joe sighed. "We've been over it before, Joe. Use all the resources you have." She paused at the doorway. "I'll let you know if anything comes up."

Sophie checked in with several people about the lawyer problem before walking to her office on autopilot. If she ran by the store tonight, she could get enough supplies for the coffee room to last another two days. That was another job that wasn't officially in the records. She would need more coffee, another pack of tea, two of the green, probably another non-dairy creamer, and some of that lemonade mix as a treat. It would be June in just a week.

Before she could register the woman standing outside her office, the stranger spoke.

"Ms. Wells? I-"

"Sophie," she interrupted automatically. Formalities were boring. Sophie Wells was a celebrated paper-pusher. Chasing the chief of police and various lawyers with paperwork took cunning, skill, bribery, and extortion. Without the small excitements, she would be bored.

"Sophie. The officer at the front of the building said to speak to you about getting an appointment with the chief of police."

Speak to her? Sophie wasn't a secretary.

"What's the occasion?" Sophie looked the woman over. Tall, dark hair, pretty eyes. Foundation only obscured the shadows below her eyes. She stood still, unlike most people who wanted to speak with the chief, and carried herself well.

"I may have information about the demon in custody. All I want is two minutes. If I'm wrong, I'll be gone, but I saw a picture on the news. I think I know her."

Her first impression was of a nice woman, too calm to be the usual fanatic. Joe would get grouchy if there was another false lead, but she was in charge of his coffee supply. If he took it out on Jenkins, Carmen would thank her. If he took it out on Carmen, Sophie would have a floorshow. "One minute, please."

She walked back to his office.

"Anything from Davis and Huang?"

"Not yet, but a woman claims she knows the demon. She just wants two minutes," Sophie said.

"Send her in." Security was used to the crocks, by now. Demons brought them out in droves. The lady could be a fraud, but she could be the real deal.

"Take a seat," he said when the woman glanced into his office.

"I'm not completely sure I know the demon, sir. It's been years."

"Tell me about the demon you do know, then."

"Her name is Raven. She will be sixteen in a week and five days, on June 4th, and has a scar on her left arm just above the elbow. When her demon side isn't strong, she has two eyes with purple irises."

Most of that checked out. He didn't know about the scar, but that would be easy enough to check- presumably. "Where and when did you know her?"

"Azarath. She was barely three when she was kidnapped." She had been looking at him, confident enough to make eye contact, but her eyes dropped to her hands. Long fingers, no calluses, no jewelry, no sign of a ring on the left ring finger. "I would like to speak with her."

"No civilians, ma'am," Joe said, frowning. None of the usual tells for a lie. If she was a reporter, the stage was missing an actress. "If there was going to be an exception, I would need some information. I'm Joe Caldwell."

He held out his hand. She shook it. Her slender fingers had a strong grip.

"Angela Roth, of Azarath and Gotham. I am her mother."


	5. Chapter 4

is not cooperating. Alerts are down, reviews sometimes won't post, and I had to load this chapter backwards and sideways. Thanks for all who reviewed. I have eleven classes, one research paper, an essay, and four finals left in the semester. If my muse braves the science notes strewn about the desk, the next chapter will be up soon. The plot is about to get trickier.  


**Chapter Four**  
"The quiet lady with the blue eyes? Joe, it's May. It's a little late for April Fool's Day. The woman is human. She probably smells a story. You look in the super-secure holding cell the Justice League helped set up, you're looking at a demon." Carmen didn't like surprises.

"According to Ms. Roth, we're looking at a half-demon."

"How are we asking Raven about this?"

Pause. That meant Carmen wasn't going to like it.

"Please don't tell me you're sending the woman in," she said.

"Angela is her mother, and-"

"Raven wasn't a month over three, from what the woman said. Joe, don't give me that look. I know it must have hurt. A three-year-old kidnapped when no one was watching her room- that's not important here, Joe."

"What is, Carmen?"

"Raven won't remember, Joe, and both of them will be hurt. You have seen the girl's reaction to strangers. Raven isn't ready, Angela won't be ready."

"Carmen, don't make me pull rank. Angela wants to see her daughter."

"It's what she wants, Joe, not what's good for her! I've seen this before. I was still on the department's apron strings when I reunited a family. Cold-case kidnapping, the kid didn't remember a thing- it didn't go well. The shrink was out of the building, everyone in the LA station wanted the reunion."

"Carmen-"

"Not right now," she said. "I won't back down from that. Raven needs some warning." Carmen didn't know how much good that would do, but it was better than nothing.

Pause. Deep sigh, raspy from the cigarettes he would quit some tomorrow.

"Will you tell her?"

"Thanks, Joe. I'll see if Raven will talk to her. It won't be perfect, but she needs some warning."

There was always bad news to go with the good. There wouldn't be a demon-centric soap opera in the station involving a mother. Yet.

"Good evening, Raven."

"The new is that bad?" Raven had been looking over business cards from the latest lawyers to offer services. She was a challenge, now. Word had gotten out that she was a particular customer, and the business cards had started coming in with handwritten notes on the back.. "You usually skip the inanities." There was something about the business cards that the police weren't telling her just yet.

"They're niceties, Raven, and the news isn't so bad." She could do this the nice way, but the demon never had liked a soft touch. Sarcasm was the only way they could communicate effectively.

"You, my dear, have been very tricky," Carmen said. "I never would have guessed that you weren't a full demon."

"Why would you think I wasn't?"

Carmen could have imagined that guarded tone, but she hadn't imagined the accompanying shift in posture. _Gotcha. _

"You're five foot six, your father's taller than our skyscrapers. You don't have antlers, hooves, or single-minded malice." Carmen counted the points on her fingers. Raven was very, very good, but Carmen had another source.

"You have met two demons," Raven said dismissively. "Demons are a diverse race."

"I've also met your mother, Raven." Breaking the news gently would be taken as pity. What was that life like, if compassion was an insult?

"I don't have a mother."

Carmen could hear the shock in those cold words. The demon wasn't as impassive as she thought she was. Carmen had heard that hard tone in mothers and fathers who lost their children to gangs, and heard that tone crack when the violent life claimed them completely.

"Angela Roth is in the station, Raven. She wants to see you."

"I don't want to see her, but I suppose I don't have a choice."

"Wrong," Carmen said. "Your legal guardian has the right to see you. This is a very, very complicated case, but I believe your father has that title."

Azarath was out of their jurisdiction, the kidnapping was an allegation, and they could hardly ask Raven's father to straighten out the details. This wasn't social work. This was Sisyphus set to sorting out custody. They didn't even have a birth certificate- Raven had been born on Azarath, according to Ms. Roth.

Cynicism reminded her that Angela Roth's entire story could be a fabrication. Memory said that no one could counterfeit that expression. Carmen had wanted to relent, at that look, but it was for everyone's benefit. Angela wanted to see her daughter, but her little girl wasn't very little anymore.

"I do not wish to speak with her," Raven said.

"Do you remember your mother?" That wasn't going to get an answer. Carmen tried again. "Angela Roth passed lie detector tests, Raven. We think her story is true."

"I don't care for stories."

"There don't have to be stories, Raven," Carmen said. "If nothing else, you could tell if she is your mother. You catch lies that polygraphs wouldn't."

Carmen waited. Raven was thinking. She had frowned a little and bit her lip, two signs that she wasn't trying to drive her crazy with unnecessary pauses.

"Not for long, and I don't want to hear about the past," Raven said. Her words were quieter, but still sharp.

Her mother was here. Here looking for her. That meant something, didn't it?

Raven frowned, dredging up every old memory. She had a faint recollection of a tall woman in white watching her from a distance, of pale hands that never quite touched her, and of a stone-walled bedroom with a view of fields. Before her mother had given her away, she had lived on Azarath.

Raven didn't notice Carmen leaving, or the doors opening again.

"Raven."

The emotions in that word were trying to trap her. There were too many. "Angela," Raven said. It was simplest.

"You don't want to talk about the past."

"No."

Angela sighed. "I'm sorry, Raven. If you can't feel that now, I've had to live with it for years. I've missed you." She remembered her tiny daughter, not an aloof young woman with perfect posture.

"I don't remember you."

The four words were meant to hurt. They did.

"I won't stay long," Angela promised. She was better with words than this, but this was not her dream. Her daughter was supposed to remember something. Anything. Angela had almost convinced herself that she wasn't to blame. She should have spent more time with her daughter, but the bad memories were too fresh in her mind.

Angela set a folded garment on the table. "This is yours, from Azarath. It is given to all initiates, and should have been with you."

"A drape. Just what I've always wanted."

Her daughter did not have a monopoly on pride.

"Carmen has my phone number. If you change your mind, I'll come back." Angela had a temper, but this was different. Raven was her daughter. Her little girl had been raised by Trigon. Could she fix years with words?

Angela walked from the room. It looked too sterile, with the metal coating the walls, the grey tile floor, solid ceiling, and only tiny ventilation ducts and a door to break the monotony. The long table that could seat eight was steel, the chairs were not any more inviting, the bed had not been slept in, and one unused chair pushed off to the corner had restraints built into it.

She looked back from the doorway, for just a moment. Nothing changed. They were just under thirteen years apart, not less than thirteen feet.

Four red eyes didn't blink. Two blue did.

Her face must have shown her expression. Officer Davis knew right away. "It's a shock, Ms. Roth."

Angela took a deep breath. She could cry later. "I guessed that she wouldn't run into my arms, but I've never seen those eyes on her."

"When she came in, she was red all over, with glowing marks," Carmen said. "She's been a little better. The Titans and I agree that she is very cautious about how people view her. Raven's been looking after herself, Angela. Give her some time."

"I will be in town," Angela said. How could she leave now? Her daughter. Her daughter in police custody.

Angela frowned. "She does not have a lawyer?"

"She's turned down all the usual defense attorneys that work on the gratis cases," Carmen said. "I don't know if she wanted to be annoying, or if she had it planned from the start. Four very good lawyers made an offer, figuring that she's going to have a high-profile case."

"My daughter is not a danger, unless she is kept here," Angela said. "Her father will come for her. She can easily connect the two worlds, but there are more arcane ways that take only a little preparation. The world will be opened to him, from this world." He would want Raven back, after all the trouble taken to have her born and abducted. "There are humans who are loyal to him."

"You're not one of them," Carmen guessed.

Something flashed in Angela's eyes. "No. I am not."

Carmen didn't push. There was a story there, but it was not going to be told any time soon. "Could you give us a few leads on the groups of humans?" she asked. "Joe has the feds leaning over his shoulder looking for ideas."

"I know enough to help," Angela said. "I was in the cult, at one point." Fingers gripped her hand over a pale scar, holding tight. "Kids do stupid things. I ran away from home, thought I'd found something good- the American dream gone wrong." She shrugged, once, and that old composure was back.

Carmen saw the resemblance now- a ramrod for a spine, the shape of the face, and the set of the lips when pretending apathy.

"I'll speak to the chief," Angela said.

Carmen had been wrong about Angela. She usually was better with people, but anything about the demon (_half _demon, she reminded herself) just seemed off. She was missing something.

She glanced at the clock. One more hour, then she could go home. She hated fourteen-hour shifts. When she had actual cases, time went differently. Because of the new priorities, however, she had to spend her time looking like she was being efficient- even when there was nothing to do.

Jenkins wasn't working with her, at least. He was taking up her caseload. Sophie had promised that Carmen could check all formal reports- who knows, maybe he would make some gross procedural error and she could be a free agent in finding a new partner.

Carmen spent half an hour checking the damage. On a case this important, she needed to know exactly what the press knew. The major papers had a paragraph in the margin of an inside page. Jump City had a blurb just below the fold on the cover. Nothing important had gotten out- yet. She'd say one thing for the feds present, they knew how to keep the press clueless. Their spokesman was a genius. He could give a press conference without letting a single detail slip.

She would thank Joe, but he was just as pleased with the new arrangement. The guy from the feds could make the reporters think they had enough material for a story by feeding them two pieces of information they already had guessed.

"Carmen, we don't have much on the lawyer woman," Sophie said, interrupting Carmen's train of thought.

"What do we have? All I know is that her business card usually has a partly opened scroll. She sent a special version for Raven."

"Tanis was born in Gotham. High school and private college north of the city, law school at a small institution, never married. She started as a prosecutor. Her track record was forgettable," Sophie recited.

"And then?"

"You called it. She dropped out of practice about seventeen years ago, came back five years later with some money and a few connections in politics. Her record as a defense attorney? Too good, especially compared to what she did as a prosecutor. She likes to skip court entirely and find a technicality." Sophie held out the card. "You've been nominated to talk to Raven about the lawyer."

Carmen tilted the card in the light.

Nicole Tanis, Attorney

"In better news, Ms. Roth gave us very, very good information earlier, and a few leads. That S isn't abstract art. It's the same symbol that someone put on Raven's napkin." Sophie liked mysteries, but she liked them better when they stayed in novels. She glanced at her watch. "You have twenty-seven minutes, Carmen. I told you that you were going home at ten."

"Sophie, you're not my mother."

"I keep the break room stocked." Sophie hated pulling her trump card, but it was the only way to make some cops see sense. Even stomachs weren't so demanding as a need for caffeine.

"Evil woman," Carmen grumbled. "Fine. Have someone call Ms. Tanis to let her know that she will be able to speak with Raven tomorrow, should Raven agree to see her."

"Tanis is in the lobby right now," Sophie said.

"Is she now." Carmen studied the mark on the card. "Tell her that her client is meditating, and won't see any visitors until morning." It wasn't a very drastic lie. Carmen would check in, and that was it for the night.

"You don't want to deliver the message personally?"

"I'll save meeting her," Carmen said. "This day's been long enough already. I'll just tell Raven about the lawyer." If she happened to add a few comments about Angela… well, someone needed to. Somehow, Carmen had ended up with the job. It was the part she hated most about being a cop. She couldn't fix everything, no matter how hard she tried.

Carmen knocked on the inner door, a new habit. It was all the small things. It took another few seconds, but maybe she could have a better reception.

She set the business card on the table. "Will this lawyer be acceptable?"

"I will meet with her," Raven said.

"She'll be in tomorrow morning." Carmen covered a yawn with her hand. She hadn't been so tired on the job in years. Tired cops made mistakes- like the one coming up next.

"Raven, what do you remember about your mother?"

"You're tired, detective. You should get some sleep."

Carmen could see enough of that expression to drop the matter.

"You're just as tired," Carmen guessed. Raven was too drained to make the words sound cold. "Stories aren't all bad, Raven." Had it all been one day? The Titans, Angela, Nicole Tanis and her card- it felt longer.

"Good night, Carmen."

Carmen recognized that tone. Raven might be polite now, but that would change if certain people didn't leave her alone- Carmen was guilty of using that one a few times.

"Good night, Raven."


	6. Chapter 5

_Trust the author. I'm bringing in the characters and events that I need for later events. Things can't get fun later without the setup work now._

**Chapter Five**  
Carmen scrawled another note. Ms. Nicole Tanis, lawyer extraordinaire, had been spouting a diatribe for the last twenty minutes. Sophie had squeaked an apology before running and leaving the lawyer behind. Anyone else in the station would have tossed the woman out of her office.

Carmen was keeping track of just what the lawyer was ranting about. Ms. Tanis (henceforth lawyer-bitch, in her thoughts) thought herself much, much smarter than any cop. Naturally, someone with an associate's and seven years' experience on the street couldn't touch a law degree with lawyer-bitch's scepter.

Lawyer-bitch was explaining her thoughts in meticulous detail. Carmen supposed that she should at least think of the woman as "Tanis," but just listening was enough of a trouble. She would have enough notes to know just what lawyer-bitch was after. Sophie and Joe owed her a favor. Sophie had stuck her with Tanis, first of all. Lawyer-bitch had insisted that she speak with the police officer in charge of the case. As if that wasn't enough to make her day, Carmen had an appointment due to arrive in just twenty-two minutes.

She wasn't afraid of the supernatural, exactly. It just made her uncomfortable. She was getting used to the idea of aliens and demons and half-demons, and just whatever someone would call Beast Boy. She wasn't used to a guy who had known King Arthur.

_That _King Arthur.

Flash had stopped in, to let her know that the League had an expert. The Justice League could have called, but the personal touch was better.

Jason Blood (or Jason of the Blood, as Flash had ever so helpfully told her) was the world's foremost expert on demons. That could be because the man had been bonded to a demon back… whenever Camelot had been around. Carmen had been through the standard American history curriculum- rush from the Big Bang to Jamestown in a week, move to 1776 after exhaustively covering the Stamp Act, and then move through American history. No matter what the history teacher tried, they never did finish the Korean War and the 1950s.

Her grasp of world history wasn't a strength. She debated for a moment before typing in a few quick search terms. Lawyer-bitch was now droning on about her firm's many resources, again keeping to the I-shall-triumph-so-why-do-you-bother line of boasts. Camelot dated back to about the twelfth century- or maybe the thirteenth. She didn't have a solid answer, but she knew enough.

Carmen thought that Flash wanted the chance to check on the case, so she gave a brief summary after he explained just who Jason Blood was. He was a knight, check. Bonded to a demon for… something or other that Flash glossed over very quickly, check. Expert on demons, check. Coming this afternoon at one? Fine.

Flash hadn't expected her to agree without causing a fuss. Carmen had the first perfect opening for a bit of sarcasm in two days. Just the previous day in her police station, there had been an alien and a half-demon. What was one extra-special human?

The police hadn't been keeping secrets, but no one had thought to call the Justice League about new developments. Tiny new details like the "half demon" and "we think we found her mother." Before the headache of lawyer-bitch, Carmen had tried to understand just what on earth the superhero was saying. Flash could put auctioneers out of a job, when he wanted to know just what she meant by half demon.

Carmen made a few final notes. The piece of paper might look like she had scribbled on it, but she still could read it. Tanis could think she was brute force without a hint of brains all that her highness liked. That just gave Carmen a chance to surprise her later.

"Thank you for your time, Ms. Tanis." The sarcasm would be lost on her, but at least Carmen had made the effort. "Sophie- Sophie Wells, who gave you the tour of the main station- has noted your appointment tomorrow." Carmen listened for a few words. She recognized that rant. "If you feel that you deserve compensation, send all the appropriate forms and your claim to Ms. Wells."

Carmen was palming her bottle of Motrin when her next appointment arrived early. She twisted the cap to the right. She would give Mr. Blood a chance.

"Mr. Blood," she said, standing. She shook his hand as they sized each other up. Tall, muscular, a streak of white in his red hair- he didn't look nine hundred. He didn't even look forty.

"Officer Davis."

"You know more than I do about demons," Carmen said. Flash had mentioned that Blood wouldn't mind if she skipped the small talk. "Her name is Raven. A human woman has claimed to be her mother. We have little reason to doubt the woman."

"I doubt I will recognize Raven's father on sight. I can't speak her language, but I can change that."

Carmen didn't press the matter. She didn't need to understand. "Flash said that you spoke with the Justice League about all shields. They were quite confident that you could take necessary steps."

"Cameras?"

"The footage will not be leaked," Carmen said. "We already have had a parade of very big names through here. The only people watching the screen will be quite familiar with the case."

"Will you be one of them?"

"The chief and I," Carmen said with a nod. "Would you like to know anything else?"

"No, thank you." He stood. "To the left?"

Carmen thought she had seen quite a bit in the last few days. A rhyming couplet that called a demon in place of a man, however, was very new. She had thought for just a moment that a half-demon wouldn't be much of match against a full demon of some power.

She really should stop underestimating that girl.

Etrigan, as Jason Blood had called him, certainly wouldn't be winning any beauty contests. Carmen didn't know where to begin describing the demon. She was more interested in the dialogue. She wished she knew just what they were saying. Raven was holding her own, and didn't care that the other demon only spoke in rhyme.

"Does this make you feel any better, Joe?" Carmen asked. "I don't think Etrigan is having any luck, either."

"What does Starfire have that we don't?"

Carmen shrugged. "I've thought up a few theories. None fit. Starfire might be one of a kind." That wouldn't be much of a surprise.

Joe watched for a few minutes. "So, when did Jason say he'd change back or whatever it is he does?"

"He didn't." Carmen wasn't very concerned. Raven was starting to enjoy herself. Carmen doubted that Etrigan would stay around very long. He was probably waiting for a way to exit and keep face, from what she knew about that culture. Raven had let a few inconsequential details slip. They weren't what the prosecutors wanted to know, but the small things would be good for something.

She checked her e-mail. Listening nearly as fun when she didn't understand what was being said.

"Do you think you can handle things here, Joe?" she asked. "Her mother is back in the station."

"Alleged mother, mother- I still don't know what to make of Ms. Roth."

"She's the best source of information we have so far," Carmen said. "This entire case is impossible. It's nothing like a normal open-and-shut. Ms. Tanis was in my office spouting of for an hour. Ostensibly, she was cowing me into dropping the case."

"What really happened?"

"She told me just which angle she'll work in court." Carmen would show him her notes, but he wouldn't be able to read them. "Controlled minor, self-defense, and then there's the kicker." She pointed at one line. "Emotion-driven powers, Joe. We finally could give the Justice League something solid. Tanis is annoying, but she was saying everything in her mind." Know-it-alls often would, given the opportunity to talk.

"Emotion-driven like…"

"Cop, not a magician," Carmen said. "I'll see if Ms. Roth will give me anything more useful later. She might connect the deal with meditating to emotions." The woman had not given her much detail. She wouldn't name the father, even when her denials sounded shallow. Something was going on, there, but Carmen could wait just a few more days.

"Ms. Roth, would you like to speak in my office?" Carmen asked, eyeing the reporters in the lobby. The last thing she needed was a few rumors. "I do apologize for not having as much time for your case. Things have been rather hectic," she said as they left the reporters behind.

"Have there been any changes?"

"We did find your daughter a lawyer," Carmen said. "Nicole Tanis. I don't like her, which isn't a surprise. I don't like lawyers." She closed the door before mentioning important details. "We have an expert in, to try to figure out just what's going on. Would you mind if I'm a touch too blunt to be polite?"

"No, go ahead," Angela said. "I would rather hear it honestly."

"There is no proof that you are her mother. Maternity testing through DNA is possible, but there is the problem of collecting. That's the accepted way. Resemblance and mutual acknowledgement might hold up in court."

"Do you honestly mean to take all this to court, officer?"

Carmen spread her hands. "I don't think that we have much of a case. Any cases of assault against cops are serious, but a halfway competent lawyer could paint the whole thing as self-defense. All fatalities and serious injuries were her father, the unnamed demon." She thought they would do better to chase after criminals in their town, but the feds needed to do something. "This won't leave the room, Ms. Roth?"

"It won't, and it's Angela."

"Carmen." She paused. "Have you seen the coverage, Angela? The media is in a feeding frenzy. People are scared. They don't understand, and reporters have yet to find a credible expert on demons."

Angela's fingers tapped on her desk. "The cult will know where I am, but I can take care of anyone curious enough to investigate."

"Angela, what do you believe the cult would want?"

"They want what their master wants," Angela said. "He wants his daughter back." Should she tell too much, or tell too little? He would think of Raven as a tool, but that wasn't something she would cavalierly tell a police officer. "There are ways for him to get her back. The cult will try to infiltrate your station."

Carmen didn't have the original napkin, but she had a picture. She set it on the desk. "Angela, do you recognize this? Someone at a local restaurant put this in with Raven's meal two days ago."

Angela couldn't tell too little without causing suspicion, but she would not tell more than necessary. "It is the mark of Scath. The demon does not give out his name freely, so his followers have adapted his symbol to represent him. He is Scath, the eighth demon." Angela pushed the paper away. "The other common representation is four eyes, set like Raven's."

"I don't think a trial is what we need," Carmen said frankly. If they wanted to permanently lose any progress with Raven, jail would be how to do it. "This can't leave this room, Angela." The last thing she needed was the prosecuting attorney breathing down her neck.

"What would leave the room, detective?" Angela's eyes were wide. Her face didn't show a single hint of guile. "You were kind enough to share details with a distraught mother."

"You know, you left more of an impression on that girl than you might have guessed," Carmen said gently. The tone on that question- it could have been Raven talking to her. "I'll work on talking her around a little. Raven's version of what happened on Azarath is different."

"What did she say?"

"She thinks that you didn't want her." There was no way to say that nicely, so Carmen listed the points like she was reading from a PowerPoint slide at a yearly progress meeting. "In her father's version, you abandoned Raven. He took her in. He's had years and years to drill that story home."

"How long will you take?"

Contrary to popular opinion, a cop could swing a reassuring smile when the occasion struck. "Give me a week, Angela." She might be able to try for less, but raising hopes prematurely wouldn't help.

Short, strong fingernails tapped against a notebook. "Do you believe that a reporter would be inclined to listen to me? I would not give a popular opinion about demons, but I would be honest. Most are… well, most live up to their reputations."

"I know a reporter."

Angela smiled. The officer said that like some people admitted to having lice. "He's that bad?"

Carmen stared. It seemed like the only response.

"I lived on Azarath because they have some very strange ideas about the control of emotions. I didn't need that discipline, but I thought it would be a good environment for- well, they offered me a safe place to stay. I took their protection and learned magic," Angela said. "They show almost no emotion. Reading something like anger took weeks to learn." Back in California, people were much easier to read.

Recovering, Carmen took her time printing a name on the back of a business card. Roger Williams was a pest, but he was a balanced pest who did his research and didn't like shock journalism. He was too new to the media business to be cynical. "Roger Williams. He'll be at the station tomorrow for a press conference."

"You know his e-mail?"

Carmen refused to get defensive. "It's It's not his phone number." She thought she might remember that, too, but only because he had made it into a jingle the week she was on the mutilation case.

Sophie was right. It was just creepy when she started thinking about her personal life in terms of her job.

"Thank you, Carmen."

"Thank you."

Angela tucked the business card into the side pocket of her purse. Most women who wanted to defend themselves took classes in martial arts or learned to shoot a gun. The contents of her purse belonged in an apothecary. She had a very effective way of defending herself, even when surprised.

She stopped by to speak with Sophie about any developments. The expert had just left the room, they still didn't have an identification on the father. Angela reiterated a few true points about Scath. Let them think she didn't know the demon's name.

Angela had planned to just leave, but someone else was signing out at the front desk. Tall, white streak in red hair, drawn face, and a very heavy magical kit- opportunity was tapping. She signed her name, asked him for the time, and swung her purse just a little as she noticed his briefcase.

She glanced at the visitor's sheet. "Would you like a hand, Mr. Blood?" The secretary wouldn't see the glyphs she conjured in the air. Curiosity, the old form of Mother, and the more recent sigil for Demon. It wasn't her most meticulous working, but she had only used a silent incantation. Communication between magic-users was best left covert.

His fast Caution was in dark red before he responded. "If you would be so kind."

Faded British accent, but not the modern variety. "I'm heading for the parking garage myself," she said, wondering if he could pick up Gotham and Azarath.

He waited until they were out of the front door. "Just what is your motive, Ms. Roth?"

She hadn't been the only one to read the sheet. "I have a question for you."

"Just one?"

"One."

"I don't guarantee an answer," Jason Blood said as he pressed the button to call for an elevator. He detested the contraptions, but two flights of stairs sounded worse than the cramped cab.

"You didn't identify a demon as the father. Why?"

"I hardly know all demons, Ms. Roth."

"Four eyes in that position? He has to be in the Eighth Ward," Angela said. "From there, it is little trouble at all to deduce just who it must be. No other demon in that area would be allowed to do such a thing."

"Why haven't you told them such information?" Jason Blood asked.

"I have precious little credibility, Mr. Blood. Coming from me, they might pause before dismissing any right I have to be there." Angela could tell them, but it seemed a betrayal. Her daughter didn't trust her. She wouldn't put that commodity into a deficit. "If it came from me, I would lose my daughter completely."

She set the briefcase in the backseat of his rental car and paused before leaving, looking back over her shoulder while he deliberated.

Jason Blood didn't tell civilians just what he could see, but he saw power the woman's daughter had inherited. "I did not reveal a name because humans cannot hide their reactions to such things as evil. They call Trigon evil personified, but only because they do not have the words for what he is.

"Raven, however, is not evil. She is far from it. She has no malice in her." He never had seen that, in a demon. She had her games, but wounds to egos were nothing. "Etrigan thought her weak, Ms. Roth. She never has killed. Her justification has been that it would be a shame to kill a taught demon. Even when her life was threatened, she would fight to the point of defeat and then walk away." That was as strange as the malice.

"She is more human than demon," Jason continued. Angela was still listening, so he couldn't be doing too badly. "Perception is not everything, but it matters. Should those police officers and heroes see her as evil, perhaps she can find it within herself to be just that." He respected officers of the law, but they did not have command over him. No one needed to know, not even those in the Justice League. They meant well, but this was not their kind of case.

"Thank you," Angela said sincerely. She hadn't felt so relieved since- since before Raven had been stolen from her. "If I can do you a favor, sometime, I certainly will see what I can do." In magic, it was best to not promise favors. They often could be messy, illegal, or worse.

He nodded, once. "Good day, Ms. Roth."

Angela smiled at him. "It will be, Mr. Blood."

Nicole Tanis had heard only the last part of the exchange. She couldn't use magic to amplify her hearing, even after hearing "Ms. Roth" offer Blood a favor. Her briefcase was subject to search, and an attorney could not easily explain just why she carried talismans and the materials necessary for several commonplace spells. There were silent ways, but she had heard Blood's name before. He would be able to sense such clumsy magic.

She didn't leave the alcove at the bottom of the stairs until both cars had left the garage. Jason Blood wouldn't recognize her- but Angela would.

Nicole smiled at her reflection, wondering why the police thought she was just another greasy lawyer. She just would have to work more quickly and a little more quietly, with Raven's mother in the picture.


	7. Chapter 6

_Jason Blood has several background stories; I chose one of the latest versions. Several details about the demons' world were made up solely for this story, with influences from mythology (Greek and Norse) and minor points adapted from Garth Nix's _Sabriel _series. For those who feel that the story has been moving slowly, this is the last chapter of the first section devoted solely to setup. You'll see why next chapter. Thanks for reading._

**Chapter Six**  
"Excuse me, Sister?"

Nicole Tanis suppressed the urge to roll her eyes. She kept her expression serene but cold. It really was a shame that the cult lost most of its brighter recruits when they realized just what the Cult of the Blood did.

They would learn, when Scath came. Until then, she would cope with an inferior staff that did not understand orders given only once.

"Start preparations," Tanis said clearly. "I expect to have the portal functional within two hours."

She didn't look away from her growing diagram traced in chalk on the stone floors. The main portal would be in downtown Jump City, of course, but the recently purchased library was across the street from the police station.

"Thank you, Sister." The initiate bowed before leaving the room.

There was no use in getting attached to an initiate. The little girl was still wide-eyed at senior cultists like Tanis, who had paid their dues and conversed with powerful entities as equals.

She kept a sedate pace as she walked to the nexus. The people who sold the old library building didn't know why they couldn't keep the damp from the walls. Elaborate webs of magic and concealments, set to protect the space below the library, had held for generations while the cult waited to need that spot. Two lines of Power crossed at that point. The portal they required would be much easier if started from this point.

Business was easier in the modern age of instant checks on bank accounts. Her false identities stood up to the highest scrutiny. She had insurance if Scath succeeded by her exalted place in the cult, the chief Caller for the portal. She had been in the demon's good graces since the conception of his brat. The trinkets and baubles passed her way had been sold at reputable auction houses as part of a family inheritance- she even had created a generous deceased aunt.

Tanis had no illusions that her privileged place would last, when Scath had what he wanted, but she had insurance in place. The cult had little use for money, and there was something elegant about siphoning money into an offshore numbered account. It was one of the few uses she had for her lawyer persona. No one questioned an attorney's careful practices with money. The bank was accustomed to the corrupt.

Tanis smiled as she lit a stick of incense, inhaled as the too-sweet smell of rotting flowers spread through the room. If only they knew.

* * *

Carmen knocked. "Think you can stand any more company, Raven?" The Titans had already been around for twenty minutes. Starfire and Cyborg were keeping the conversation moving. Carmen knew it was a risk, but stagnating wasn't an option. 

"What are two more?" Raven called, adding a world-weary sigh.

Carmen grinned. Four days, and Raven already was picking up the more dramatic mannerisms from the cops. She opened the door and stepped inside. No one there would be too easily offended, so one more risk wouldn't hurt. "Raven, would you do the honors of introductions?"

"I doubt they'll be honors if I'm doing them."

"The introductions would at least be interesting," Robin said.

Raven smiled politely. No one blinked at the fangs- disappointing, really. "I think everyone here knows the Titans. They seem to be garden-variety celebrity superheroes, who stuck with heroing when they couldn't find jobs at the latest fast food establishment. Carmen, local celebrity, officer of the peace who goes around with a gun on her hip." She might as well. "Titans, Angela Roth. My mother."

Angela smiled, ignoring the shocked expressions. She had known that Raven would come around, or had hoped hard enough that it felt real. "What convinced you?"

"Etrigan," Raven said. She expected to fend off hurt, not to hear Angela laugh.

"Only a daughter of mine," Angela said, satisfied with the answer. She looked at the Titans, who looked interested instead of shocked. "Angela Roth, call me Angela. Ms. Roth is for older women than I."

"You're older than me," Carmen observed, deftly sidestepping an elbow.

"Thirty-three is not old," Angela said, nose in the air as she took a chair. "What was the topic before my age?"

"Etrigan," Cyborg said. "Specifically, if we can convince Raven to teach us a few of those insults, but we'd settle for other parts of the story."

"How did Etrigan convince you?" Carmen asked.

"He knew the story," Raven said. "Etrigan is manipulative, cruel, and callous, but he knows gossip."

Cyborg laughed. "Demons gossip?"

"Relentlessly," Raven said flatly. "Demons can live for centuries, if they're not killed off first. There's little to do but gossip.

"Etrigan is known as The Rhymer, for his irritating tendency to speak only in rhyme. He was promoted to that designation shortly after being bound by his brother. His father wanted to salvage his son's reputation. Etrigan has lasted about fifteen centuries in modern recorded time, most bound to a human through magic he can't break." So she looked a touch smug. There was little he could say against the magical seals set into the room's walls. He hadn't broken the barriers set by one human.

"That's true?" Angela asked. "I've heard accounts, but sources rarely lasted through centuries of the necessary recopying."

Raven nodded. "It's true. Belial, his father, is still around. He's ancient, but powerful enough that few dare target him. Sixth ward demon, which carries through in physical appearance. He might look bite-sized compared to other classes, but he has precognition and telepathy past the usual super-strength."

The more humans knew about that demon, the more they thought they knew about her. Demon weaknesses were not universal. Some classes of demons might avoid iron, silver would do best against others, and only a few could be adversely affected by holy water.

"How super?" Carmen asked.

"He could punch someone and send them on a one-way trip to the moon," Raven said. "In ideal conditions only, of course. Any human hit with that much force wouldn't make it five feet without being pulverized."

"You faced him down without batting an eyelash," Carmen said, nonplussed by disturbing imagery. She'd seen worse. "What do you know that we don't?"

"Demons won't come to blows if the fight can be decided through words," Raven explained. "I am half demonic. He was rather decisively beaten by his half-brother." She knew more about Etrigan than he knew about her, and he hadn't thought she would be aggressive.

"Half brother?" Cyborg asked.

"You might have heard of him," Raven said. "Merlin."

"That Merlin?"

"If there was another, the name was already taken," Raven said. "Merlin was half demonic. He summoned Etrigan to try saving Camelot, but it was already too late. Arthur had fallen." It was an old story, one demons still remembered. Some told it to laugh at Belial's line, but most told it to remember what happened when deals with humans became too personal.

"You know that story?" Robin asked.

"The parts that concern demons," Raven said. "Merlin was too weakened to force Etrigan back. Instead, he bound his half-brother to an overly chivalrous knight, Jason. Jason was given several glorified titles for volunteering to be bound to the demon. Etrigan has yet to repair his image. Belial gave him a promotion, but he still can't browbeat a half-blood."

Carmen leaned back in her chair and listened to the Titans, Angela, and Raven talk about medieval spellwork. Raven was in a downright happy mood, as far as hers went. Raven would talk- as long as it wasn't anything that Carmen or the people in charge wanted to know.

"You didn't make all those insults up?" Cyborg asked. "I feel cheated."

"Where did you learn such things?" Starfire asked.

"Shakespeare."

"Shakespeare?"

"Shakespeare," Raven said, ignoring incredulous looks. "I've read a few plays. There are a few portals that can be opened for short periods of time. The gap between dimensions is very thin, and has only a few feet at the most translocating points."

"The what at the where?" Cyborg asked.

"The points with the most translocation are the hardest to get across. Instead of stepping straight ahead through a door, you can end up twelve feet away." Raven didn't know what passed for an education here, if Shakespeare was such a surprising source of insults. "I learned insults from Shakespeare. When translated into a civilized language, they sound even more impressive."

"I agree," Starfire said solemnly, seeing that Raven wasn't serious. "Tamaranean compliments are more threatening than English curses."

"Don't be indignant in silence. Defend your language," Raven challenged. That was a much safer topic than just how portals worked. She had to stop letting her guard down. She hadn't known that would be hard.

"English is the tongue of people who have little better to do than learn the many rules and exceptions," Angela said. "The spelling alone is incomprehensible."

"Written language in Tamaran is in a simpler form," Starfire said. "Any grand or important edicts are to be spoken, not written on paper."

"Demons don't write contracts or make oaths. They make alliances and truces, which occasionally last a decade," Raven said. "Demons can live for millennia. No one expects much of formal agreements."

"People love writing treaties in English," Carmen said. "Treaties, agreements, contracts, you name it. You write it out, iron out the loopholes, sign your John Hancock on the line, and then break it as soon as you want."

Starfire shook her head. "A warrior's word is her bond, or his. There is no backing down from a verbal agreement, no matter how distasteful the terms."

Would you listen to that- the alien meant it. Raven could read between the flashing emotions. She recognized Pride, and Anger, but the dark green woven through the statement was only vaguely familiar.

"I lived on Azarath, where words cannot be taken back. A lie is a dishonor that may never be rectified," Angela said. "I lived in Gotham, for a time. There, words are just what come out of your mouth when you try to avoid suspicion. I like to think that I am closer to the culture of Azarath."

"My mentor doesn't lie, and he's born and bred in Gotham," Robin said.

"Robin, your mentor is hardly a normal Gothamite." Angela smiled. "I'm not asking who he is. I probably would be horribly disappointed, after several stories that circulated through my high school."

"I probably should argue, but I know just how abnormal Batman is," Robin said.

"Etrigan has met Batman," Raven said, amused. "He was impressed. Batman has quite the mind."

"Shielded?" Carmen asked.

"With sharp objects," Raven said. "Your mind is relatively guarded, for someone untrained. Angela's is quite good, but she doesn't completely repress emotions. Robin's is passable, I can barely get a reading from Cyborg, Starfire is completely unrestrained, and the quiet guy over there has about four layers." Beast Boy also had a war going on in his head, but that wasn't a topic of polite conversation. If the guy wanted to rip his mind to bits, it was hardly her concern.

She'd never heard of a human with that kind of dark side. Odd people, the Teen Titans, but none of them seemed to care.

Raven kept her guard up for the rest of the conversation, but it was an effort. She steered the conversation away from any topics that could lean to too much information, but even less useful topics weren't safe. Humans, she was learning, were much easier to deal with than demons. Their motives made little sense, most of the time, but they were kind without reason.

She just might miss them when the portal opened for her.

* * *

Jason Blood checked his luggage. He only had to change his packing habits once every few years, but a last-minute check was an old habit. Toiletries, clothing, several small magical items tucked in with the toiletries, more obvious items tucked in a gaudy bag that could have come from one of many souvenir shops just outside of the airport. Useful magic books were wrapped carefully with an antique first edition. The novel had little sentimental value to him, but a tome signed by Dickens was often enough explanation for carrying his single bag onto the plane with him. 

Losing luggage was annoying. Losing luggage with magical paraphernalia was a bad idea. Airlines were slowly getting more reliable even as they became more paranoid. He could carry the materials to demolish the plane inside of his cell phone. Shoes were not a concern, no matter what the security officials thought, but explaining just what someone had found in his bag could be a problem.

He was through the second line of bored security personnel, and the second batch of explanations for just why he had not checked his piece of luggage, when he felt it. He muttered a very ungentlemanly curse beneath his breath.

If he ignored the twinge in the lines, he could board his plane, hope that it would take off somewhere near 8:35 PM, and be in London by 3:00 PM the next day. Ten hour overnight flight, he had managed to get a first class ticket on short notice, an aisle seat, and he was going to give it up because someone was messing with the lines of Power that crossed in Jump City. It probably was some unlearned foolery in an unfortunate location. The library sat on crossed lines, he had noticed. Closed for renovations, light security, books that actually held spells- it was probably nothing.

He still was carrying his luggage back towards the front lobby, fabricating a story about a spot of family trouble as he went. Tension helped him. Instead of seeming terse, he was thought worried by an employee. She found him a cab and had it on the airline's tab before he could make a token protest, and somehow he ended up with a sobbing hospitality coordinator wishing his niece the best.

Whatever got them through a boring shift. He had a free fare back to Jump City from the Los Angeles airport, and wasn't about to complain about the service. Leaving while in the process of boarding a flight was a tricky business, especially when people couldn't quite believe that yes, he was abandoning a nine thousand dollar ticket. It probably was overcautious, but it was better too careful than reckless.

**But who will save the world from blight  
Of tireless overly zealous knight?**

_That was horrible, Etrigan. Rhyming is an affectation, as we both know. You could insult me properly with no problem at all. _

Silence. Blessed silence._  
_

_You aren't even going to bother defending that excuse for a couplet? I suppose it's just as well, when you've been thoroughly beaten by a fifteen-year-old girl. _Baiting Etrigan was an old habit. There was little else to pass the time during the ride back to Jump City. The cab's taste in noise (he could not call "rap" music, and doubted he ever would) left much to be desired.

**The halfblood born of Trigon's fire  
Still is useful to her sire.  
Human plans and human hands  
Will have her home to demon lands.**

_If you want to really be clever, give me the clue. I'm looking for a plan started by humans, fine. _

Silence, but it was of the sulky variety._  
_

_I brought my favorite recording and extra batteries. _Carol of the Bells, performed with hand bells made entirely from iron. The effect was better in person, but earphones and MP3 players were among the more useful advances of the twenty-first century. Etrigan couldn't stand iron in any form. One Christmas carol, set on repeat, hours of peace.

He was about to reach for the headphones when Etrigan spoke.

**You'll find the cult named for blood  
Too late to nip plans in the bud.**

"The cult named for blood"- simple enough. By Etrigan's standards, that was a labeled diagram. The cult named for blood was the Cult of Blood. The Cult of Blood- oh dear. It was a mockery of a co-ed religious conclave, complete with sisters and brothers, devoted to the worship of the demon they called Scath. The world knew him as Trigon. Trigon's child was in police custody.

He cursed himself roundly, much to Etrigan's amusement. Normally, he would have ignored the demon by now. They could speak to each other constantly, but Jason was quite good at blocking Etrigan when necessary. Now, however, with so much on the line- he couldn't afford to block out a single word of the demon's rhymes.


	8. Chapter 7

_This is setup, action, and partial resolution. Description comes with setup; side tangents may be more important than you guess. There won't be a test, but the stories don't stop with the end of part one. Police protocol might have been different from the standard, but despite my best research, I have not found just what police would do with a non-human. Half non-humans… well, I've had to create a few procedures just for this story. The Jump City police rarely factor into the show, so I've had to guess just how they would handle everything from the Teen Titans to Raven, who is enough trouble on her own. _

**Chapter Seven **  
Something didn't add up. Carmen hated loose ends almost as much as she detested variables.

She scowled at her clumsily drawn diagram. She'd done some research on her own. When her name was on a case this big, she could use her internet connection at home for a basic fact-check. She liked approaching a problem from two angles. Officer Davis had official libraries and experts on call, but Carmen surfed the 'net in her pajamas.

She'd scanned several sites that specialized in the occult from her office. She wouldn't have trusted the websites as far she could throw the creators, but she found a disturbing amount of correlating information. Powerful demons, according to six different sources, could reach heights of anywhere from fifty to sixty feet. Very powerful demons could hit a hundred. Their target demon could stand next to a twenty-story office building and look down at the roof.

So, that left one category. Carmen wouldn't pretend to understand the hierarchy in the full version, but she knew enough. There were several wards, whatever exactly that meant. She didn't need the details about likely boundaries and sizes. All she needed was a little verification. Belial was small, for the head of a ward. (She didn't try to pronounce the correct term.) Someone with that status could easily fit the red guy's height.

"Problem, Carmen?" Angela murmured.

"Yes," she said, tired of being polite. The Titans and Raven were talking about something else. "I've done some research. In half an hour, I learned that only the rare demon can hit one hundred feet at the shoulder. Big red, the best name the station has, hit that at the waist, easy."

"This is a problem?"

"Maybe you never caught his name, fine, but I've had the world's foremost expert on demons tell me he has no clue," Carmen said. Sometimes, the direct approach was the only way to get answers. Joe called it the big stick approach. She called it the bridge over the bullshit, when no one would give her a straight answer.

"Angela, this isn't personal. It's my job. I can't do a thing without information. If I have a big enough name, I can get protective custody. One DNA test, and you have sole custody," Carmen said in an undertone. Cyborg and Beast Boy could both hear them, probably, but they were polite enough to not mention it.

"I- I don't want to talk about it."

Carmen sighed. It had been worth a try, but pushing now wouldn't get her any information. The Titans were pretending oblivion, but Raven was watching and Angela was closing up. "I can't help on good faith, Angela. I'm a cop before I'm a nice person. If doing my job means asking hard questions… well, it's the other part of the badge."

"I have blame enough, officer," was all Angela could say. "I won't add more."

Carmen paid attention to the other conversation before she started hitting her head against the table. Jason Blood and Angela Roth had to know, but wouldn't tell- just what were they hiding from her? She didn't want to drag the affair through court. Even contacts with the feds were prepared to drop all charges in exchange for the big guy's name, an explanation, and a blood sample. Prisons weren't secure enough, and they couldn't tell just how much Raven could do. They wanted to protect people, and give Raven a shot. The girl was half human, too.

Carmen was the unofficial go-to girl about metahumans. In a place like Jump, it made the big brass happy to see one name over and over. The bigwigs tried to make her a poster child, once. They didn't try again. Yes, Carmen had grown up in a gang-run neighborhood. Yes, she had hero-worshipped a cop when she was seven and said (to a camera, no less) that she was "gonna be a cop." They forgot the important part of the story.

Any kid could say that she would be a cop, or a singer, or a ballerina. The important part was that her idol's pedestal got a little shorter each year. In high school- Carmen could look that cop right in the eye and ask how she should start working out to pass the fitness exam. She worked her grades up until they almost touched a 3.0 and happily left math behind her. She could count how many shots were left in a clip, the worst arithmetic.

The story wasn't enough, so they printed a pack of lies. Carmen had called up some reporter fresh out of school who needed a break. He was too young and too naïve to spin the story a new way and make a permanent connection with the high-power police. He'd told it straight. She had her credibility, he had a job that came with a (cramped) office.

She never had managed to get rid of Roger Williams.

Carmen looked at Angela again, and understood a few of those shades. "The chief gets to drop by later with the official offer. I can try reaching out, but the uniform only stretches so far."

"I understand," Angela said.

Carmen pressed back the urge to sigh in relief. She hadn't lost Raven's mother- good. She didn't need a DNA test to verify the story in her mind. If Angela was a glory-chaser, she was putting in lots of anguish for little benefit.

She frowned and glanced at the Titans. Something about the entire night felt off. She didn't know why, and didn't need to. The first thing she'd learned from her mentor was to trust her gut, when it wouldn't get her dead.

She looked over the Titans. She didn't have the same reckless assignment that new cops did. They were kids, doing adults' work. Carmen didn't know much about Cyborg. From all that she'd seen, he was level-headed and the voice of reason. Starfire always smiled for the cameras and crowds, but she always was apprehensive about the closed space between the doors. Robin…

Carmen knew that Robin had the talent to lead, but didn't know how much of a leader he was when his team could be so off-balance. There had been some fuss about a beast, almost a year back. Beast Boy hadn't been the same since. After Terra and a volcano almost destroying the city, he'd changed. There was still an occasional bad joke or lopsided grin, but the kid was way too quiet. Even in a conversation about superheroes and questionable fashion sense, he barely put two words together.

"Batman," Cyborg said. "Robin sadly didn't inherit his taste, but the guy dresses all in black. Bulletproof, enough gadgets that I don't know where he puts them all, and his only downside is bat-everything."

"Not everything," Robin said.

"The towels?" Cyborg asked. Batmobile, birdarangs, batsignal…

"Only in the cave," Robin said defensively and a little too quickly.

Starfire giggled. Cyborg laughed. "I rest my case. We have a tower, he has a batcave."

"You have no heroes who know to dress themselves?" Raven asked.

"Says the girl whose dad was walking around in… you know, I don't know what to call that. Ancient Egyptian meets Goth?" Cyborg wasn't sure he could describe the look properly, but he could create a few 3D images for verification.

"I believe it would be a shame to forget the antlers," Starfire said, guessing just how far she could push before Raven was defensive. "Perhaps they are a sign of status, Raven, but I believe they would not suit you so well."

Raven stretched out a leg to glance at a very human (if gray) foot. "He can keep the hooves, too. I avoided the more animalistic traits."

"What kind of traits would those be, Raven?" Starfire asked.

"Cervine," Raven said sourly.

Angela coughed, Cyborg laughed, and Carmen asked what everyone else was thinking. "In an English dialect that I'd recognize?"

"Deerlike," Angela said, her tone somewhere between prim and offended. "Of all the- Raven, you're sure that it isn't elk? Caribou? Something else?"

"If it was reindeer, would that really count as an improvement?"

Angela laughed. "Of all the things to inherit from me, you have my sarcasm," she said. Raven had her eyes, too- sometimes. "We could have proof, if you would like. They could do as much from hair." She didn't comment that Raven's hair had been violet. The color varied from dark ash to obsidian, and might be a sensitive topic.

"I believe you," Raven said. She was careful to make the words sound cold, but Angela still smiled. The woman was too sincere for it to be a lie. "I think the scientists here would have several accidents at the thought of a genome, and would rather not provide a template for any weaponry." If they hadn't had the idea, they didn't deserve the little credit she gave them.

"Scientists have very little control over themselves whenever something interesting is happening." Angela had a fond derision for science and the classes she had liked in high school. If only her physics teacher knew how she spent her days. "I'm a minor practitioner, when it comes to magic. Any sensitivity I have is very weak, but my grandmother had enough power to head Gotham's small community in the 1950s."

"A coven?" Carmen asked.

Angela shook her head. "That's for witches, and they don't hold broomsticks. Modern magic doesn't differentiate, with so few of us left. My grandmother was a war bride, from Japan. Her daughter married a man who had a few drops of European practice in his veins."

"What do you mean, sensitivity?" Cyborg couldn't make heads or tails of magic, but he'd never tried asking an expert.

"I can feel when things are disturbed," Angela said slowly. "You can trace cold and warm fronts, on a map, and follow them by rain and winds. In magic, you can't always tell where the people are, or when there are small spells, but you can tell when they mess something up."

"Can you tell when spells are building?" Raven asked.

"Sometimes," Angela said. Something about that expression wasn't right. "Why?"

That was when Angela felt it, so strong that she nearly fell from her chair.

"What is that?" Carmen demanded, on her feet.

Carmen didn't know why on earth she'd ever been put as the girl to talk to for a case with metahumans. She refused to brownnose, which had earned her a smile from Joe, and didn't act like suspects were dirt under her shoe. She'd watched cops with that attitude drive away witnesses who could have (would have) helped them. All that she'd done was say the right things when the right person was around to watch- she couldn't do a thing with this magic business.

"It's a spell," Angela said through clenched teeth.

"A portal," Raven said coolly. She didn't look affected by the surge of magic. "A rather large portal, I would guess. It's rather crude, probably based from a nexus of two fronts that Angela mentioned."

"Where is it?" Carmen asked.

Angela bit her lip in thought. Raven answered.

"The old library, across the street and two buildings down. It's an old cult base they must not want anymore."

"How do you know that?" Carmen asked.

"The portal is too strong, and isn't contained with a binding spell. That's why it has so many affects on those with any affinity for the magic." Raven knew precisely what the spell meant. All she had to do was wait.

On cue, Carmen's radio blared into distorted voices. "Davis, we have a situation," Joe rumbled. "We have a faxed note regarding the portal thing across the street. 'Send Raven home, and the portal will be gone.' That's all it says, showed up a few seconds before someone saw the whatever across the street."

Carmen pulled the radio from her belt and thumbed the side in one motion. "What do you want, chief?"

"The feds are babbling at each other right now. As soon as they give me the say-so, I can tell the techs to unlock the damned door. There's this… I don't even know. It looks like an oil slick, with the colors, in a perfect circle. It's growing pretty slowly, but fast enough. The library's falling away into it," Joe said.

"English, Joe."

"The damn thing will eat the city. Give me a minute, and the feds will see sense. We won't learn anything, they'll only scrape their pride if we give the go-ahead right now." Joe's tone, however contorted through the wards, left no compliments for the people ordering his station around.

Angela moved before Raven could, scooping up the cloak from the unused bed and handing it to her. "Raven, I- you'll always have a place here."

"I'm going home," Raven said. From Carmen's emotions and Joe's words, that was finally a sure thing.

"Perhaps, but you don't need to stay there. You're the portal. Raven-" Angela didn't know what to say. There were too many words, and too little time. "There was a prophecy, Raven. Without you, Trigon can't destroy the world. Don't let him forget that. He needs you, no matter what he might say, and you have power from both sides of the family," she said in a rush.

Starfire and the Titans had held a fast conversation. "The Tower also is available, should you choose to visit earth again," Starfire said. "I wish you strength for your battles, and that your enemy might trip." It was an old Tamaranean goodbye, one for the fighters.

Raven took the cloak, which seemed to mean she accepted their offers. Angela took her hand. It was a small contact, still more than Raven was used to, but the emotions that came with it were what made her pause. It wasn't that Angela's hand felt nice, it was… Raven hadn't realized seconds had passed.

"Maybe," was all she said.

"The cops will stay out of it, if your dad doesn't follow you," Carmen said, one finger tapping against her radio. She was a cop. She might have a few sentimental moments in uniform, but a girl had to remember the uniform came with a gun at her hip. The radio blared, the lock on the door clicked. Carmen couldn't tell a thing about the magic, but she dealt with more concrete problems. "The portal's growing faster. It could take out a block in an hour."

"It's an easy spell," Raven said. "Please make sure no people fall through. They wouldn't like the environment, and it could be messy to send them back so soon after a large portal."

"You're not like him, Raven," Cyborg said. "That's a compliment, in case you can't feel it. He looks after you, maybe for now, but you'd look out for someone you don't even know."

Carmen wasn't imagining the strange expression accompanying the glare.

"There's no use spoiling a demon for humans. The last thing I need is another one convinced he could make me lunch," Raven snapped, without too much heat. The human (he was human, if strange) meant well.

The station was just as stark as the cell. Somehow, it figured. Raven's expression didn't change when several employees' terror reached her. After the second batch of fear, Raven listened to her emotions. Intellect informed her coolly that it was to be expected. Pride and Anger both felt that a little fear was deserved, since respect took longer to earn.

Jason Blood was on the front steps of the police station, surveying the portal and muttering yet another charm beneath his breath. Raven paused and listened. "That only would have effect near the source of the portal. You wouldn't like being near the source."

"Miss Raven."

"Curious? I know where the spell is based," Raven said casually, eyes on the portal. She had another minute, at least.

"That would be nice to know, if you're so inclined." Don't look a gift horse in the mouth until you're alone in the stables. Jason Blood accepted free advice, and examined any hints at his leisure.

"Nicole Tanis pushed me farther than was wise." Raven supposed the woman had helped, but only for her own gain. Raven would not be coerced. "You might look into her ties with the businesses in this state. Her reputation is as a cover, naturally. She's part of the cult." Tanis had thought there would be no consequences for several indiscreet remarks to Raven, and had been wrong.

"Nicole Tanis as in your lawyer?" Carmen couldn't believe it. Lawyer, arrogant, and a demon-worshipper- she'd told Joe that woman was no good. She glanced at the crowd being moved down the street by wary police officers. "Right over there?"

Raven easily picked the red hair out of the crowd. "Correct." Raven might have said more, if not for a sudden burst of emotions from Angela. Raven hadn't thought her mother could feel hatred towards someone, let alone that bitter hatred mixed with self-disgust. Maybe she should ask, or say something, but-

People were too confusing. They did things for little reason, made sincere offers that would not provide benefit, and she had wasted enough time.

Angela's lips thinned. The flash of red disappeared into the crowd, but only after she had seen that face. So that's what Collette was calling herself those days.

Carmen looked around slowly. Four Titans were looking at the portal, Raven, Angela, just whatever was happening with the crowd, and the portal again. Jason Blood was looking at Angela, Angela had ripped her eyes away from Tanis to look at Raven, and Raven was staring into space. This was another moment when Carmen shoved her feelings aside and said what needed to be heard.

"The portal is only getting bigger," Carmen said. "I wish we'd met under different circumstances, Raven."

Angela smiled, because she didn't want to cry. Raven still had that cloak, and maybe that was what gave her the guts to say it. "I love you, Raven. Goodbye." Four words she'd wanted to say for years, and one she hated.

"Goodbye," Raven said. She didn't look at the Titans, or Carmen, or Jason Blood, but her gaze passed over Angela as she took to the air in a smooth arc. She flew without hesitation for the center of the portal and disappeared without a ripple. Angela watched. Four heartbeats later, the shimmering colors disappeared after a momentary flash of white.

Angela sat down hard on the marble stairs leading to the police station, and didn't even wonder just how that woman had stayed in the cult so long. One morning just shy of thirteen years ago, she had woken up to learn her child was missing. The English language had words for widows, widowers, and orphans, but not for a mother who lost her child.

She thought that she would have done Azar proud, in staring at the spot her daughter had been. She lasted until Starfire put a gentle hand on her shoulder, and then the tears came. This time, she'd watched her daughter go, and it hurt just as much.

**End Part One**


	9. Interlude: Six Days

_There are no original characters mentioned in this chapter. Think of it as a chance to get to know these two characters better- they'll be back. As for Raven… in time, in time._

**Interlude: Six Days**  
The last box had been moved into her apartment just half an hour ago, and she already was expecting a guest.

Angela ran a hand through the underside of her hair, tugging impatiently at the snarls. People could compliment long, thick hair all the liked, and she would continue to say that it was a bother. She tossed it behind her shoulder and looked in her empty refrigerator. She gave up remembering which box contained the nonperishable food as a lost cause and collapsed into one of the four pieces of furniture in her apartment.

Two chairs and several boxes were somewhat arranged in her living room, her bed and bedroom hadn't seen sheets, and her kitchen table wouldn't have chairs to go with it for three days. She eventually would find a television, a daybed, and maybe a few pieces of artwork or something for the living area, and more appliances than a refrigerator and microwave for her kitchen. Angela had been fortunate enough to have the Titans help her move her things. Cyborg and Robin had set up all the electronics, Starfire had helped her organize the room, Beast Boy had patiently moved furniture and chairs while the ladies (Cyborg's word, Angela rather liked it) deliberated (Robin's euphemism for dithered).

She didn't know she was still putting her hands through her hair again until a tangle caught her fingers. She muttered a phrase unbecoming of a lady and glanced in her bathroom's mirror. Angela picked up her hairbrush, still thinking uncomplimentary things about her hair, and began the battle in earnest.

Angela was winning the war on tangles when she heard someone knocking at her door. She started, dropped her hairbrush, tried to catch her hairbrush, missed, and stubbed her toe on the cabinet below the sink. Angela yelped, stumbled into the hallway, almost tripped over a box, and answered the door convinced that she was about to crash into something else. She hadn't been this clumsy since high school, but excitement of actually liking her room had brought out her less elegant side.

She tried to look casual. He had some-teen centuries on her, perhaps, but he looked about five years older than she did. So help her, she might not be old, but she was older than a schoolgirl.

"Come in, Mr. Blood," she said with a smile. "I have something edible about, if you're hungry, but for beverages I only have vintage tap water." She should have let the taps run for a few minutes, but it was too late for that now.

"I've had worse," he said. "I don't know what my mother would say, coming to a new house without a housewarming gift."

"That was the proper manners, in your time?" She hoped that wasn't offensive, but it was an honest question. He had lived in Camelot, after all- who wouldn't be interested?

"Chivalry was a touch different then, but the feudal system lent itself to such codes."

"I've forgotten my manners," Angela said. She hadn't been this flustered since- well, she had to admit it to herself. Attractive man, wouldn't jump through the roof if magic said boo, and he already had met her daughter. Nothing would happen, she knew, and she felt better for admitting the truth to herself. "Would you like to take a seat?

"Thank you for agreeing to speak with me about the prophecy. There are few enough people who believe in prophecies in general, and demons always complicate things." Angela kept her smile even as she glanced at the calendar spread over a box. It had been six days since Raven had left, and there hadn't been a single word.

"I've never heard the prophecy except in snide mentions. Etrigan seems to think the rhyming is horrid." That meant it was either much better than the demon's efforts, or truly bad.

Angela unconsciously sat straighter and folded her hands in her lap, just as her private school had mandated for recitation.

"The gem was born of evil's fire  
The gem shall be his portal.  
He comes to claim, he comes to sire  
The end of all things mortal."

Jason thought for a moment. "That truly is horrid. Who was responsible for that, someone in the eighth ward?" He hated to agree with Etrigan, but even his demon (a phrase guaranteed to earn angry couplets) could have done better.

"I'm not familiar with the term," Angela admitted. "Geography on Earth isn't my strong point."

"Nor mine. Every time I try to refresh my memory on African or eastern European countries, my recollections are next to useless," Jason said. "Demons live in a different world adjacent to ours at some points. Because of how the worlds are aligned, Jump City is close to both the eighth ward and Azarath. Trigon commands the eighth ward."

"Your guess would be better than mine."

"Would you mind terribly if I said it bluntly?" Jason asked.

"Not at all, especially if you have a few harsh words for Trigon," Angela said sweetly. It was a statement that had to be said with a smile.

"Trigon is rather pompous and likes to be known as the embodiment of evil, which he is not. He also pretends that just by setting foot on this planet, it will end. He could cause a scenario similar to Doomsday, but most of it would be illusion. The complete takeover of a planet through use of a portal, even a portal created by another, is closely regulated."

"There are rules about taking over the world?"

"For demons, there are. Making a claim is easy, and demon wars over claims could destroy galaxies. To take earth, Trigon would have to defeat some representative of the planet in combat. This representative cannot be arbitrarily chosen, but must challenge him directly. Should this come to pass, the best bet would be to ring Superman and tell him someone hasn't heard of him yet."

Angela couldn't help a wry smile. "The strange part is that I find ringing Superman more unlikely than Trigon swaggering over to take over the planet."

"I've complimented Guinevere, left London at the first divorce of Henry VIII, and advised Churchill," Jason said. "Superman, to me, is one more famous person, albeit one with strange taste in clothing."

"So, in all that time- how many demons have tried to take over the planet?"

"It's happened a few times. Arthur faced one minor demon, I've read accounts of the battle between Boudicca's army and a demon, and there have been other scattered incidents," Jason said.

Angela could be impressed later. For now, she was a little too shocked by just how many stories he had to know. "Historical scholars must adore you," she said.

"Only if they believe me. Scholars aren't inclined to believe fairy tales about demons."

"It's easier to not believe in aliens and demons and superheroes, even when we fill the media with them," Angela said. "I was quite the skeptic, in high school. Now- well, you've met my daughter."

"You haven't heard from her?" He had wanted to ask earlier, but it wasn't very polite.

"Not a word. I don't- well, I just have to hope that she's alright," Angela said. She shook her head. That wasn't what she had called to ask him. "I've done it for years. I'll manage."

Jason only had to deliberate for a second. He ignored Etrigan's helpful suggestions- hm. He hadn't known there _was _a rhyme for that particular word.

"Would you prefer to know, Ms. Roth?"

"Magic, Mr. Blood?" She didn't have to say yes.

"If we're going to do a working, it's Jason."

"Angela." She reminded herself again that there wasn't a shot, no matter how- oh, bother. She was interested, and adult enough to keep that to the occasional testing sign. "I have a two bedroom apartment. The smaller bedroom has a porous continuous tile that should do for any necessary diagrams."

"Wouldn't have pegged you for a boy scout, Ms.- Angela."

"Boy scouts don't carry purses," Angela said, reaching into a side pocket of the moderately large purse. "Observation only, I would think- red chalk, taper candles in the same shade, a lighter, and a mirror."

So she was trying to impress the guy a little. She was thirty-three, he was cute, she'd have something to tell Starfire. The alien had said she'd drop by for some "talk of the girls," and Angela would be happy to oblige.

"All that I would replace is the lighter." He drew flint and an edged piece of metal from his pocket. "Both of these are from the eighth ward, obtained a long time ago. A fire from these sparks helps the connection." It was normally a matter of will, but the eighth ward's boundaries were hard to pass from either side. Between the fire's source and Angela's connection to Raven, he couldn't ask for an easier casting.

Manners did change, over the decades, but it didn't matter. There was no reason to tell Angela that she had eyes Guinevere would have envied.


	10. Interlude: Eighteen Days

_Many thanks to Kayasuri-N, who wrote Cyborg's half of the chapter and helps me keep this story moving in the right direction.  
_

**Interlude: Eighteen Days  
**"I do not believe there will be coffee this morning, Cyborg. Beast Boy was slightly careless in setting down the pitcher used for the brewing." Starfire wiped the last pools of coffee from the counter. She already had cleaned away the glass shards.

"Great. Now I have to get along without my placebo."

"What is a placebo?"

"It's… has to be the day I don't have coffee, huh? It's like tricking the body. I give you a sugar pill and say it's a painkiller, you think your pain's gone away."

"There is really nothing there, but I believe that it has an effect," she said, fixing the new definition in her mind. She might know the language, but some words were still new. "Could you check for glass, please? I am unsure if I missed any shards. Robin and Beast Boy were debating whether friend Beast Boy needed more training, and Beast Boy did not realize his strength."

Cyborg scanned the area with his robotic eye. It came in handy, sometimes. He pointed towards the fridge. "A few skittered under there, but we won't step on them. You'd cut your hand getting them out." He would vacuum later.

"I do not know why they cannot get along." She carefully threw away the rag she had used on the counter. She didn't want anyone to be cut by traces of glass. "They cannot have any conversation without it becoming a fight."

"It's a conflict of personality, Star."

"There was a conflict of personality without fighting in the beginning, was there not?"

"Yeah, Star. B was just a kid, I think, and Rob was acting too adult." Cyborg shrugged. "You were getting used to Earth, I wasn't too happy about the thought of being a permanent buffer."

Starfire frowned. "I am now used to cleaning up after their disagreements. I merely left the room to check upon Silkie."

"I think you're being a bit literal about the cleaning up, this time."

"To be literal is to say exactly what you mean, and intend for the words to have a further meaning, correct?"

"That's right."

Starfire sighed. She had to cheer up, or she would not be doing any flying for an hour.

"Robin makes me so frustrated!" She stopped her fist just before it hit the counter.

Starfire set her palm flat against the Formica and took a deep breath. "I have been speaking with Angela, about him."

"Yeah? She got any advice better than belting him one?" If it came to that, Cyborg knew he would be the one doing the hitting. Starfire could get enthusiastic.

"Angela was sympathetic enough to suggest hitting him, but I had to point out that I just might break him." Starfire shook her head and looked in the cabinet. "We have the grounds of coffee, but no machine. Perhaps we later could find a replacement machine. Beast Boy almost lost control, again, and is quite strong when he is close to taking that form."

"Don't I know it. Shopping… let's not take those two. Robin will be busy training himself too hard for the rest of the day, and B won't leave the rocks. We could get a new coffee machine, easy, before they notice we're gone."

She stared out the window. "I have tried to speak with him, when he does this, but Beast Boy says he needs the alone time." There was no use attempting to speak to Robin, when he entered the gym in such a mood.

"I'll make some of his nasty tofu to get B inside, if I need to." Cyborg grimaced. "Hope I don't."

Starfire giggled. "You are quite a friend, Cyborg."

She looked from the shore to the gym. "Someday, soon, I shall lose my patience." Her smile slipped away and her eyes hardened. She tried to be nice, as was liked on the planet, but sometimes it was quite hard. "I will pick them both up, lock them in a room, and refuse to let them emerge until they finally have finished their fight and decided whatever issue it is that causes such long conflict."

"I don't think that would be a good idea, Star." Cyborg shook his head. "We might end up with two teammates in a hospital and no answers, or worse."

She smiled wryly. "At least there would be fewer conflicts, and some peace in this tower." Both feet were flat on the ground. Being down to earth was no fun at all.

"That, or they just might decide they're bosom buddies."

Starfire giggled, feet six inches above the ground. "I never shall get used to the many meanings your words have. I have already eaten my breakfast. Please tell me when you are ready to depart."

"Will do, Star." Cyborg wasn't sure what he'd said, but he didn't think about it. Starfire was laughing again, and he wasn't sure he wanted to know.


	11. Interlude: Twenty Days

_Notes_

**Interlude: Twenty Days**  
Twenty days.

He never had kept her waiting so long, but it seemed Trigon was quite put out with how much damage control he had done on behalf of her (and his) reputation. Before, Raven might have worried, or taken his position on his side. This was not before. Raven had taken the time for a solid day of meditation with no interruptions.

Raven had kept a portal open for four continuous days, and had done her research. She had little furniture, but it was enough. The suitable armchair for a daughter of Trigon was uncomfortable and completely unsuited for reading, so she lounged sideways in a worn recliner. The bookshelf was out of arm's reach, but telekinesis fixed that problem readily enough. She had no need for a bed, when conventional sleep was unwise. Few came near the area claimed as hers, but more would dare if she truly slept.

There was an English phrase for her method, if the imagery was strange. Catnapping was much better than sleep, however odd the phrase. She woke at any sound, or even at a change in auras. No demon in the ward could shield all emotions from her, and she never had detailed what method she used to sense those who approached her domain.

A grandiose title for a stretch of dark rock with rough building she had created, but it was hers. She claimed the area of sluggish river closest to its belowground source, which meant no one could poison her water supply. Demons had some need for water, but she required more.

She thumbed through yet another book, and her frown deepened. Why should she care about lines in her forehead? There was no way to know what her lifespan would be. Human females could last to seventy or eighty years. Demons could last for that many centuries. The problem was that human females aged, and aged quickly. If she lost any mental or physical fitness to age or disease- that would be it. There would be no allowances for past capability.

The best spell available to create a portal was horribly inefficient. She had checked four different versions of the spell. Even a major energy output would gain a functional portal for only an hour.

Trigon had lied to her, which was to be expected. Few demons meant anything with their word. Truces could last for hours or years, and promises had little more than comedic value.

She rubbed her eyes. Reading the small print would be enough of a strain with fluorescent lighting. Reading the cramped handwritten volumes with almost no light was much worse. She could try a torch, but the flickering illumination was little better.

There was light, but there was no obvious source. She had read in a book once that skies were blue, but that might have been a part of the fictional world. The sky above her rude roof was red, dark red.

The book put itself away, with just a little telekinetic help. Raven rested her forehead on a fist as she thought. The best spell she could find would give a window of only an hour. Twenty four hours in a day, four days… She slowly added the numbers in her hand, picturing how it would have to be. She had read two books that detailed the basics of math, and remembered her numbers from before.

She was starting to remember images, like a dark-haired woman in the distance sipping from a delicate cup. An empty stone room. Tactile sensations- warm liquid down her cheek, salt in the corner of her mouth, a hand against the cold floor. Feelings, few pleasant. Loneliness, a dull ache she recognized as longing, bursts of some strange giddiness that seemed to have no cause.

Ninety-six.

She could have kept that portal open longer, without sleep, drink, or break. She took some small satisfaction in lasting so long without a drop of water. Humans could not, which meant that she would be hardier. She might even see eighty while strong, but still doubted a century.

She was at least one hundred times better than the best spell, and Trigon been patronizing in allowing her to make the spell. If she was so strong…

It was a disconcerting thought, just as odd as Angela (and Starfire) offering her a place to stay. If she could open the barriers so easily, she could make them less easy for the spells to open. She knew just what each incantation centered on. If she was so strong, she need not do as her father said. She knew he had some vague designs on her safety. He might not protect her, but he would rather messily eviscerate her killer.

Her glance slid to the book. He might protect her, or at least protect his tool. If he did take charge of the human world, if he did secure his pathway into another ward, he would not need her. He would not protect her. Of course, his protection would be revoked if she would not open the portal for him.

She could slip into the human world. He had no plans to stay there, and even wanton destruction was not his goal. He had been trying to find just which toppled building carried a trace of some other connection. Research would tell him which locations in the human world corresponded to the easiest gateways. The eighth ward had thick walls, which protected from invasion even as they prevented expansion. He would not need her, after the armies were through the portals.

His pride, however… he would not let her slip away if he had wanted to end any association with her publicly. He was scorned for siring a halfbreed, and there was little he could say against such a rumor. If he wished to show some displeasure at the damage to his reputation publicly, it would come to a fight. She would not simply give up, when he need not do her so many favors in protection.

Her hand slid to her side as a dangerous thought came to her.

He didn't have to protect her.

There was no requirement that he protect a child, of course. That fell to a demon's mother, who would care for a child until self-reliance was assured. She had required his protection when small, perhaps, but he had taken her from her mother too early. That much was fact, not story. Rumors, now that she had learned to listen for them, jeered that Trigon would send for an infant with human blood, were jibes of nursemaids and nannies. Raven had needed protection, then. She could barely walk, let alone fly.

Now…

He did not have to protect her, because she did not need that protection.

She was stronger than the best barrier spell. She was a better option. She had what he wanted, and he could give her nothing in exchange. He would have no need for additional portals when he found the sense to research the crossing points between worlds. If she planned to live among humans, away from demons and demons' politics, then it would be better for her to go. She could leave.

Raven stood. It was wrong, to think through such a life-altering decision sitting down. She glanced through her books. There were none that she would take, and the shelf could stay. She had only two possessions worth keeping, the cloak draped over her shoulders and her mirror.

The cloak felt thick, but it was cool against her skin even in the heat of the world. Steam came from cracks in the stone ground, the rivers ran warm, and vents spouting fires were the few sources of brighter light.

The mirror was from before, a way to control her powers. She had learned that quickly through bargaining. She had been too young to have a good bargain initially, but that had changed when she learned to use leverage. Now, Intellect, Pride, and Anger knew better than to act against her will. She had a narrow superiority, but it was enough. The three emotions advised her, and Intellect usually had the best answer.

She spoke when Raven's thoughts paused expectantly, glassy yellow darkened with brown and a trace of orange. _It is in your best interest to leave. _Intellect was always cool and collected, the voice of sanity when Pride and Anger were too vehement.

_Where will you go? _Pride demanded, a rush of ashy burnt orange. It was like a book singed past recognition that would crumble to cinders if touched, with barbs hidden in the ashes to prick the offending finger.

_Away, of course. _Anger, hot red like glowing metal, contradicted Pride, Intellect, and Raven given any chance.

_Where would she stay here, Pride? _Intellect's condescension was a shattered mirror. _There is no other option. She has a better opportunity. _

Had _a better opportunity, _Anger corrected. _Trigon is coming. _

Intellect did not contest that claim. Of all the emotions, Anger was best at sensing Trigon's approach. He was ashes over burning hot blades, painful to look at with uncloaked empathy.

_Fight, _Pride said. The darkened orange surged up in a spiral within her mind to mix with blazing red.

_Just listen to me. _Anger was almost assuring, in fights.

_Allow me to help, _Intellect said. _We might avoid a fight._

Raven nodded and cut off Anger's instinctual protest, as well as Pride's outburst. _I concur with Intellect. _It was a familiar finish to a mental consultation. Raven slipped the cloak from her shoulders, wrapped the mirror, and set it on the ground beneath the sturdier chair. She sat on that fancier chair with a book open on her lap, just for show, and pretended to be absorbed in the words.

"_Raven." _

She set the book aside carelessly and walked out into the open.

"_Trigon."_ She stood on the ground, letting him look down. He was far enough back that she didn't need to quite crane her neck.

"_We move now. Follow me." _

Raven had heard the armies in the distance, but that noise faded to a steady pounding in her ears. Intellect, Anger, and Pride weren't enough as she looked up and up at her father's face, but rough dark green brushed through her. So her getaway wouldn't be as clean as anticipated. She was the strongest portal he could hope to find, and she had not inherited just parts of his power. She had magic from her mother's line, and he needed her. After all the years of ignoring taunts about how weak she was, and how lucky that he let her live- he needed her.

Dark green pooled in her throat and moved to her lips, a rough sensation no one else would see.

"No."

She hadn't realized that they were speaking in the tongue of demons until her defiant syllable registered all the stranger in English.

"What did you say, daughter?"

Pride and Anger had stiffened at the interloper, but hot ashes were rough as the colors blended. Cool glass kept apart. "No," she said, and she didn't listen to Intellect's chilly remark about the recklessness of Courage.

"I do not desire to go today." Intellect's suggestion, approved by Courage. There was no need for a fight now, when it would be on his terms. If Raven wished to fight, it would be at a time and location of her choosing. Pride and Anger balked at the change in opinion, and the roughness did not blend with glass.

He cracked his knuckles. She stretched, as if waking from a real sleep, and yawned widely.

"You will come with me, or we will fight."

Courage and Pride touched again for a second, with Anger close behind. Raven smirked, a small detail his eyes might not catch. The expression carried into her voice, and her eyes blazed brighter to send red light reflecting off sharp teeth.

"Ready to lose, Trigon?"

She continued before he could make a reply- he hadn't expected that. "Why did you sire a halfbreed, Trigon? Was it because you thought that a half-demon would be weak enough to provide no threat, or was it because no female demon would have you?"

He roared a challenge. She rose into the skies with a twirl, hands spread and already surrounded by spheres of energy that absorbed all light, except at the very edges.

The reckless smile faded into grim determination as she met the first strike. She might not be able to win a fight against Trigon, but she didn't have to lose. All she had to do was wait him out, and take the first chance she found.

All she had to do was survive until then.


	12. Chapter 8

_I still don't own the Titans, and will away from my computer for two and a half months starting in about two weeks. A few more details will come when I have them, but this story (and all others) will be on hiatus while I don't have internet access. _

**Chapter Eight**  
Raven couldn't remember being so tired.

Closing the portal was as much work as opening it, when she snapped it shut faster than the blink of an eye. It was best to be cautious, when dealing with demons. Her father's smallest finger wouldn't fit through the portal she had created, but he was not the only demon in the ward. He could have sent someone to follow her. She concentrated on her surroundings. No one was there, which wasn't surprising. The library's walls were cut away at just one foot, and no one had disturbed the diagrams on the floor. The pouring rain was starting to wash away the designs, and was another reason no one was walking down the street.

She would live. There was no need to worry about injuries, even with a constant throb of pain reminding her she had not done very well. She had expected no better. Those who fought with Trigon often died. Her case was slightly different. He wanted her alive, so alive she was. Trigon had held back on fatal blows, as they both knew. He could have killed her, but he thought she had nowhere to go.

He was wrong, she hoped. She carefully unwrapped the mirror. Draping the cloak over her shoulders was almost too much for her. Her left arm was wholly occupied cradling the mirror against her side, and her right had little reach. She used just a trace of telekinesis to move the cloak over her shoulder.

The library was gone with the roof, and she felt rain for the first time in her life. It was cold, it was wet, and it was quickly losing its novelty. She didn't like being cold, or the way that her skin raised into bumps all over even when protected from the rain. The sky was a dark shade of gray, but not a flat shade. She could make out traces of clouds. Water vapor, she knew, that would fall to the earth again in rain. She didn't know what people saw in them, really- weren't they supposed to be white and resemble things?

Her feet were steadier beneath her. She didn't think she should put her full weight on either foot, after a few rough landings, which meant hovering. Intellect reminded her that it would hurt more later, as if she didn't know, before slipping back out of notice. At least the dark green emotion hadn't deserted her. Courage, as the green emotion named herself, usually stayed in the background and let the other three do her work, but she had been needed.

Raven knew that her mother would welcome her, but she did not know where to find her. She doubted that she could stroll into the police station and expect a directory. She had read about phonebooks, or at least had read stories where such things were mentioned, but didn't know where to find such a thing. She did remember a conversation about the Titans' home. They lived on an island in the middle of the bay, in a building shaped like a capital T. That shouldn't be too hard to find, and Starfire had sounded sincere in the offer.

Intellect had no other ideas, Anger was still venting about Trigon, and Pride, sulking, took her time to brush herself off after leaving a fight. Anger might have taken her side, but still was furious with Trigon. Pride and Courage banded together, wary allies in keeping her moving. Raven flew up until she could see water, and a faint lit shape through the rain.

She remembered the trip across the bay. It felt like hours of rain, wind, and water blowing by her. There was nothing to catch her, if she fell, and she had no way of calling someone. She had not seen any pay phones, and wouldn't have the money required. Even if someone in the police station didn't recognize her, she doubted they would let her use a phone. She was sure that she looked a sight. A human wouldn't have survived, a demon wouldn't have tried. She wasn't quite human or demon.

She tentatively put a foot on the shore, testing it against her weight. It hurt, but she couldn't stay in the air without pushing herself too far. She was far from graceful, walking across the shore, but she was steady enough to stay on her feet.

Raven looked at the door, the keypad, and then up at the Tower.

_Is there a doorbell? _Intellect asked. _Look at the edges- there. The small, circular button. You could knock, but the living spaces are twenty or so floors up. They wouldn't hear you._

_Don't worry about what you'll say, _Courage said. _We'll figure it out. _

At least some part of her was confident, Raven thought. She pressed the doorbell once.

A recording started playing a second later. "Hey, you're on the Titans' doorstep. If you're Slade- seriously, man, that's just messed up. Any other villain, please head back to a nice abandoned parking lot so we don't screw up the landscaping. If you're anyone else, give us a minute to get down," Cyborg's voice said. There were occasional muffled comments from the other Titans, but his voice was clear through the small speakers to each side of the door.

_There are cameras. _Intellect pressed until Raven looked to all edges of the door. _There, and there. They know we're here. _

_This is _not _a good idea, _Pride insisted.

_We all know that Starfire meant it, _Courage retorted. _You don't have a better idea. Shove off, if it bothers you so much. Raven, careful with the deep breaths. I don't think your ribs are in great shape. _

_I don't think any of her is in great shape, _Anger muttered, before again lambasting Trigon. The emotions and Raven ignored the old refrain.

_This is the best place for the night, _Intellect said, resigned. There were too many uncertainties for her to like the plan, but there was no better alternative.

_Heads up, _Courage said. _Very, very bright emotions, twelve o'clock, with a supporting cast. _

It had been a little over three weeks, if Raven had kept to counting days correctly. If Starfire had changed her mind, there wasn't another option. Pride grumbled, Intellect sighed, Anger continued her tirade, and Courage rallied again.

Starfire opened the door, the others behind her. "Raven?"

_Say it with me, Raven, _Courage said gently.

"I need a place to stay for the night," Raven said. Maybe it wasn't the most polite way to phrase it, but she and etiquette had only passed each other once or twice on the street. "I was in a fight, with my father." Her chin tilted up without her notice, Courage's influence. "If he wants to come to this world, it won't be through me."

"Would you like to eat anything first, or just sleep?" Starfire asked.

"A place to sleep would be wonderful," Raven said. Even Courage couldn't last very long.

Starfire glanced over her shoulder. "Perhaps you could check on the generators," she said to the other Titans. "There is a storm of thunder coming, and we may have to use them."

Cyborg nodded. "Got it. B, Rob, I could use some extra hands." He had just checked the generators earlier, but Starfire wanted them out of the way.

"You are hurt," Starfire said without preamble when the others were gone. She had only needed to watch Raven walk into the elevator to confirm that guess.

"Yes."

"Badly?"

Raven would have shrugged, but decided against it. "Badly enough, but I will heal."

"There is little but an alarm clock and a bed in the bedroom for guests, but I doubt you need much to sleep," Starfire said affably. Raven's voice had sounded oddly tight, so she wouldn't ask many questions. "May I call your mother? I have been speaking with her, mostly about the talk of girls. She would like to see you."

"I don't know how long I'll sleep," Raven said.

"She will wait, if you will let her."

"You could just ask her over. It is your house."

Starfire wondered if that was a test. If so, it was an easy one. "Yes, but you came for rest. Would you like to see her?"

Raven nodded, once. "I would have gone to her, but I do not know where she lives."

"That can be remedied tomorrow. My room is to the right. If I am not there or in the common room, we probably have gone out to fight a villain," Starfire said.

"Thank you."

Starfire was already smiling, but her emotions changed subtly. "You are welcome. I wish you good sleep."

By the time Starfire reached the common room, the boys were up from the basement. "How is the generator functioning?"

"How's Raven?" Cyborg asked. "Generator's just fine."

"She is hurt," Starfire said. "She said that she would heal, but I will be watching to ensure she does. I could see little of her, with the cloak, but what little I could see was not in best shape." What she had seen was in very bad shape. "Raven did say that I could call her mother. She would have gone to Angela, but she was unsure where Angela lived."

"Anything we can do?" Robin asked.

Starfire shook her head. "I wanted very much to offer an arm, when she was walking, but I doubt she would accept even that contact. She is very careful with personal space. I believe all we can do is wait, now. She mentioned that she needs to sleep."

"Do you think she'll stay around?" Cyborg asked.

"I believe it is too soon to tell. She has few options, at this point. I believe she set a bridge alight when she fought her father." Starfire knew boys would be boys, but they also could be quite dense. When she wished for peace in which to call Angela, they suddenly wished for conversation.

"She still hasn't given a name," Robin said.

"She doesn't want to know he's insignificant here, or he's significant here." Cyborg shrugged. "Maybe Raven'll tell us, maybe not. Whichever it is, she was dead on her feet coming here. She doesn't need hassling about details."

"Yet."

Starfire left Cyborg and Robin to their debate. "Beast Boy, would you help me begin to prepare dinner? I think the spaghetti with marinara sauce will please everyone."

"I can get it if you want to call Angela, Star."

She would have to talk to Beast Boy sometime, but he wouldn't let her. Every time she tried to ask him if he wanted to talk, or started a conversation without requesting permission, she was rebuffed. Maybe he would talk to her the next day.

"Thank you, Beast Boy. I will complete the dishes, later." Starfire would have crossed her fingers, but he was still looking at her.

"It's no problem, Star, I-"

He would not have any more opportunity to avoid the team and play video games just in his room. "I shall help you with them, then," she said before he could shut her out. "Do you know where I might find the telephone?"

"In the common room, I think."

Starfire picked up the phone and dialed the seven numbers. If there was one earth technology she would like to bring back to Tamaran, it was the ease of communicating over long distances. She waited until the voice mail's message began, then turned off the phone. Strange. Perhaps Angela was not in her apartment.

She tried Angela's cell phone. Halfway through the second ring, Angela picked up the phone.

"Sorry, just a minute," Angela said into the phone. "I didn't realize I had my phone on," she continued, voice muffled. "Should I go outside?" Starfire couldn't make out the answering reply.

"Hi, Starfire," Angela said quietly after a second. She didn't know who else from the Tower would call her. "I'm in a restaurant. Can I call you back? We're just about to order."

"Is Jason with you?" Starfire asked. If it was someone else, Starfire would wait until Angela was away from the table. Explaining a daughter might be odd, and Angela had said 'we.'

"Yes."

"Please do not feel that you cannot enjoy dinner," Starfire began. She couldn't think of a delicate way to bring up the subject. "Raven's back."

"Back?"

"She's in the Tower," Starfire said. "She was in a fight, with her father."

Angela gasped. She couldn't help it. "Is she hurt? Can I talk to her? Does she want to talk to me?" Her words were too fast, but she couldn't slow down.

"Yes, not now, and yes," Starfire said. "Raven herself said she is badly hurt, but she said she would heal. She currently is asleep in one of our spare bedrooms. She would have gone to you, she said, but she does not know where you reside."

"I didn't have my apartment when she left, and didn't know how to let her know." Angela sat down a little too quickly. "You'll call me when she wakes up, right?"

"I do not believe that will be until morning. Would you like to come to the Tower, tomorrow? Cyborg would give you a ride, if you wished. I would hate for you to miss your dinner."

"I'll take you up on that," Angela said. "Thank you, Starfire."

"Good night, Angela. Enjoy your dinner."

"I will. Good night." Angela turned her phone on vibrate, then glanced at her dinner compantion. "You know, that much patience is probably inhuman." The waiter had left when she talked on her cell phone. She would feel bad later- her daughter was back!

"I've had practice," Jason Blood said. He was curious, of course, but waiting the extra minute usually made explanations more coherent.

Angela reached into her purse. She pulled out a tube of lipstick, a blue enamel case for loose powder, and a compact mirror. She checked behind her with the mirror, glanced around, and opened the blue case. She drew a sigil on the mirror with the lipstick. The deep red color wouldn't suit her complexion at all, but it wasn't really lipstick. She took a pinch of powder and rubbed her fingers together over the sign, careful to spread the powder.

She spoke one word, then put her "cosmetics" away when the conversation around them dimmed. The small spell would last only a minute, but would stop any eavesdropping and impede lipreading. She had seen Collette in the area just three weeks and two days ago.

"Is the news that good?" he asked.

Angela nodded. Perhaps she was a little paranoid, but she was not in the habit of letting her guard down. "Raven is with the Titans. She's hurt, but I would expect no less." She smoothed the napkin on her laugh. "She was in a fight with her father."

"She outtalked Etrigan, but she knew considerably more about him than he did about her. She also didn't have to speak in rhyme, which made her faster," Jason said. "Does she need a doctor?"

"She can heal," Angela said. "She said she would, at least, and I know she healed from scrapes when she was little."

Jason frowned. "That's not a normal demonic power. Her father has no healing." He trusted Angela's shield, but there was no need to be careless enough to mention Trigon. The shield was better than he expected, for a sudden field casting. He wondered if he could come up with some adaptation of her spellcasting tools. He couldn't unobtrusively carry lipstick, but he would think of something.

"That's my side of the family," Angela said. "I'm a quarter Japanese. My grandmother had very strong magic, which passes along to the women of my family."

The waiter discreetly cleared his throat outside the fading shield.

Angela smiled a little sheepishly. Now she could feel bad about talking on her cell phone in a nice restaurant. They were out to dinner because she had forgotten to go grocery shopping and had no food at her place, and finishing a magical working left one very hungry.

"I'm sorry, about the phone conversation," Angela said. "A friend had news about my daughter." It was true. Starfire was an easily made friend. Thinking about the phone call, Angela couldn't help a smile.

"Good news?" the waiter asked, softening.

"Very good news."


	13. Chapter 9

_This is it before I leave you all for Girl Scout camp- don't fret, I'll be writing in my free time and some of it might even be fan fiction. When I come back… well, let's just say I have a direction for this story all picked out and a few more stories in the wings. I won't be back for almost three months, so you'll just have to note that I didn't leave you with a cliffhanger. I must be going soft. Have nice summers, all, and I hope you'll pick the story up again in late August. _

**Chapter Nine**  
"Good morning, friend Beast Boy," Starfire said. She laughed when a disgruntled look was the only response. Her teammates, excepting perhaps Robin, were not morning people. Robin, however, was not cheerful in mornings, as the saying seemed to imply. He always woke early, but would not accept even coffee before he began training.

"Coffee?" Cyborg offered.

Beast Boy shuddered. "It smells bad enough," he grumbled. "I don't want to taste it, too." He found the orange juice carton and a glass. It wasn't too bad so far, as mornings went.

"Coffee is much more tasteful with the sugar," Starfire coaxed.

"I'll get my caffeine the normal way, thanks- in Mountain Dew."

"Now that's nasty," Cyborg said. "Do you know how many chemicals are in that?"

"Nope." Beast Boy poured himself a glass of orange juice. "I don't know and I wouldn't care. If coffee tastes at all like it smells, I don't want any. Mornings are unnatural, and I have the instincts to prove it."

Starfire laughed. "They are not so bad." She had different instincts. Tamaraneans loved sunlight. To them, light was just as vital for food to gain energy. Earth had only one sun to provide light, but it gave enough.

"Afternoons are better," he said.

"Much better, today." Starfire took a long sip of her coffee. She didn't experience any effects from the caffeine, but she enjoyed the taste. "In honor of our guests, Robin has cancelled practices for the remainder of the day."

"Guests?" Beast Boy asked.

"Angela Roth is way downstairs," Cyborg said. "She wanted a few minutes to put her thoughts together, and to look at the ocean close up. She's walking on the beach."

"Raven has been utilizing the room of bathing for some time." Starfire looked at the coffee pot. There was just enough left for one cup, and Robin would finally consent to coffee and breakfast when he had completed his morning workout. She didn't need any more coffee. "She looked different this morning," she said thoughtfully. Starfire looked at the doorway when it opened; Robin had only been training for an hour.

"Different?" Beast Boy prompted.

"Good morning," Robin said. "Any coffee left?"

"Enough for one cup," Starfire said. "If you desire more, it is yours to brew." Just the night before, she had sworn she was through trying the nice. It was for the best that she never gave her word when Robin was involved. "Raven did not have her cloak when we ate breakfast, but I could see no signs of grievous injury. She walked with no sign of discomfort, and the few bruises I saw looked greened with age."

"What was for breakfast?"

Starfire blushed. She knew Robin didn't mean anything by it- well, she hoped he didn't. "Cereal. She was most kind in insisting that is immensely difficult to poison a demon, but I was equally insistent in that I would not wish to inadvertently succeed."

"I'll take a look at her when she comes in," Cyborg said. The caffeine in the coffee didn't do much, but he could convince himself it did. It was easier on days that he drove out to Jump City first thing in the morning, not that he often picked up civilians to come visit the Tower. Angela was an exception. "I did a scan, last night. I was more curious than anything about how she was walking, so I looked at her bones. Fractures, a couple cracked bones- that must have been some fight."

"I saw no signs of such injuries this morning." Starfire had been raised among warriors who hid pain, and had learned to tell which fighters required aid and which needed only a minute to move past their pain.

"How much can she do?" Robin asked.

The elevator doors opened.

Angela was as composed as she was going to get. Someone might as well answer his question. "I could begin to answer the question," she said. "That would be it. Raven is much stronger than the monks of Azarath predicted."

"Azarath is another planet?" Starfire asked.

Angela frowned. "That's the easiest way to describe it. Azarath is in another dimension that crosses with yours at several points. I could explain it in terms of magic, but the physics of such a thing are beyond me."

"For the sake of simplification, I shall call it another planet," Starfire said with a smile. "My people disapprove of magic, but I believe they have not seen the good such things can do. I have spent time away from them and learned that not all of life is about fighting battles- just most of it."

"What battles do you fight here, besides the obvious?" Angela asked.

"I live with three males," Starfire said. "On this planet, I believe it is customary to ask males to please remember to replace the seat of the toilet." She still thought all television was educational, but the sitcoms had taught her the most.

Starfire could put anyone at ease, it seemed. Angela's hands were finally resting flat against her legs. "There's no need to protest," Angela told the other Titans with a grin. "Even superheroes can't remember such things- just think of the service to your fellow men."

Beast Boy's chest puffed out. "Anything to serve the country."

"Half the country's pretty good for one inaction," Cyborg agreed with a smile. It was about time Beast Boy started clowning around again. If Robin started in about taking things seriously again- Cyborg would choose sides, and it wasn't going to be with Robin.

"They do cook," Starfire said.

"Starfire cooks, too, but I don't think we could eat it," Robin said. "The one person who tried some of her glorg said it tasted like fish ice cream."

Starfire's eyes widened. Just when things had been going so well-

"Sorry, Starfire, but that just convinced me to avoid it," Beast Boy said. "Glorg doesn't smell like fish or ice cream."

Starfire sighed with relief and saw Cyborg's wariness. Good. If it came to a confrontation, she would know that she was not alone. She meant to stand for a teammate, but to fight a teammate for the sake of the team- it didn't feel right. Her people settled conflict of leadership with a fight, but she could not release emotions in such a way. What would be a bruising blow on Tamaran would kill, on earth. She had killed before in battle, but would not do so on this planet. Here, people could live without constant battles of the physical nature.

"Starfire?" Robin asked.

She blinked. "My apologies. I must have done the zoning out." She stood. Cyborg could ensure that Robin did not ruin a new balance. "If you will excuse me, I will see if Raven requires any assistance." The shower had stopped. "I lent her some civilian clothes purchased some time ago, as I doubted she would like to borrow my usual attire." Raven had expressly banned miniskirts, but Starfire would save that for a later time. For the moment, Raven would be more pleased if conversation was in confidence.

Starfire knocked on the bathroom door. "Raven, I believe you should know that your mother is here and would much like to see you."

"I knew she was here," Raven said, not sharply. Starfire heard the snip of scissors, then the soft click of metal resting against the counter. "There is no shampoo left in your bottle."

"That is no concern." Starfire smiled, not that Raven could see. Perhaps she would hear the expression. "The city gives us quite a generous stipend for our activities to their aid. As we said before, we fight the criminals that would give their officers some difficulty."

The door slowly opened. Starfire didn't suppress her reaction. A Tamaranean showed emotions as they occurred, for lying about feelings was a deception. "Raven, you look much different. I believe it is in a very good way."

Raven blinked. A hand brushed her shorter hair back without any prompting from her. It had taken several washings to get the last of the ash from her hair, and she had cut it to shoulder length to snip away burned patches. Black pants and a long-sleeved black t-shirt were safely bland, even if the cloth garment beneath the shirt had taken a moment to decipher.

"Thanks," Raven said after a moment. Starfire hadn't lost her knack for confusion through honesty.

Starfire smiled at the late response. She had already taken a moment to observe the new details. Raven's skin was still a shade of gray, but was much paler and had little variation. Her hair was a rich purple, and her eyes a shade to match. "You resemble your mother, which is good. Angela is much prettier than your father."

Raven wasn't going to wait for the reaction. If it was negative, as she predicted, Raven would need only a moment to teleport to her room, grab her mirror, and be gone. "Most are prettier than Trigon."

Starfire tilted her head, confused. Unless… "I do not believe I understand."

"I fought Trigon. My father." Raven didn't mean to sound so unsure. She was only stating the facts.

Starfire gasped. "You fought Trigon, and walked away with only broken bones?"

"They were broken," Raven said, trying to find something to dispute. Starfire's emotions so far were only shock. "Now, they're not. I sleep deeply, when I heal. I could not have healed so quickly in Trigon's ward."

"I would imagine not!" Starfire shook her head. "That is not a name that I would have wished to spread too far. His reputation stretches to Tamaran."

"I never did take after his side of the family." Raven knew that now. Hindsight was always clear. She had never felt the "right" urges- but here, those urges were wrong. People with such feelings were put away in prison for committing crimes that demons would consider normal. Nothing was right anymore, but she couldn't go back.

She smiled warmly. "Would you like me to break the news to my teammates later? I can assure you they will adjust, given a few minutes."

"And a touch of persuasion," Raven guessed.

Starfire blushed. "They think as humans do, or perhaps as people of this planet. Sometimes, it just takes them longer to see what is different is not bad."

"Why would you go through so much trouble?" Raven couldn't see how Starfire would benefit.

"Because I can," Starfire said. "I fight for others because I have the capability, and can think of no better way to spend my time. I spent nearly two years without a way to fight for myself, and I remember those who fought for me- and those who did nothing." Her eyes blazed, then faded as she smiled again. "I like it here, better than on my own planet. There, everything is reputation and strength and fighting prowess, judged in differing scales. Here, one can make friends simply by trying the nice."

"Most people here aren't like you, are they?"

Starfire hesitated. "No, they are not."

Raven felt the shifting emotions, and saw just how she could fix some of those gray tones. Strange, to see that gray- Raven didn't remember feeling that. "I don't think I could believe there were more of you," Raven said dryly.

Starfire giggled. "Are you prepared to meet the others? I think the boys will be quite surprised, your mother less so but very happy."

Raven nodded, which was enough of an answer. Starfire stayed back as Raven stepped into the common room.

Angela stopped in the middle of a sentence, and Starfire thought anyone could read that expression. Her teammates looked very surprised, as she had expected. Cyborg recovered the fastest, followed by Robin and Beast Boy, but Angela had expected such an effect.

"I've spoken to Jason Blood, Raven," Angela said. "He could name only eight demons likely to survive such a fight." The emotions behind the words were kept quiet intentionally. Angela had to be careful, as much as it hurt. If she moved too fast, she could lose her little girl again.

Being a mother was the hardest job Angela thought she could stand, but she wouldn't have it any other way. Looking at her daughter… all those old daydreams about the way her life could have gone disappeared.

Raven's smallest finger brushed Angela's hand just once, but it was contact. Angela easily suppressed the urge to hug her daughter. All things would come in time, and that small moment was home.


	14. Chapter 10

_Nicole Tanis, my creepy lawyer-cultist extraordinaire, is not nice. Neither is her language. You've been warned. _

_Hey all- I'm still out between a cow pasture and a cornfield. Internet access is spotty, and the internet's the slowest dialup you'll ever hope to meet. It took awhile, but I'm picky and wanted to get the characters just right. Enjoy, and don't be too anxious for the next chapter- I have six weeks to go. _

**Chapter Ten**  
Nicole Tanis was not pleased.

In fact, she was pissed. She was swearing enough to make the new finds scramble for cover. She didn't know why they bothered to keep bringing in more lost little children. Only one in twenty showed sign of magical ability, and actual prowess was extraordinarily rare. Those with prowess were usually clever enough to stay far away from anything involving a fucking demon.

She liked her lifestyle, and what girl wouldn't want some power? What she didn't like so much was the responsibility that came with the very nice wheels and ritzy apartment. She had moved from New York to California, fine. That was at least something she could do. After the mess with precious little Angela, they had needed to move base. Changing it to California was no hardship.

Now, however, Trigon had spoken directly to the people in the cult. Daddy dearest wanted his little brat back. He, of course, hadn't said things that way. Whenever the newest recruits were watching, he put on a show. Towering flames, echoing voice, gigantic throne, bones strewn around like confetti- some new to the cult cowered, some snuck glances at the demon. Nicole waited.

He had given her the more direct version in a private consultation. Raven's magic was weakened. The few weeks after the sudden teleportation could be the only window of opportunity for the cult to bring her back. If events were to continue as planned, he needed the girl back.

Nicole cursed again. This was her only chance to find any weak places in Trigon's hold on earth. If he could not intercede without their help- what was to keep her from leading a coup? Only one of the senior casters had enough power to be a challenge, and he could easily be distracted. He was idiotic enough to think himself a temptation, and that any woman would swoon at the thought of a night with him. Nicole fed his ego, once in awhile. She might need it someday.

The task sounded easy enough. Find Raven.

The magical signature alone would do it. All Nicole needed was one small spell, one tiny slip. It could even be one of the unconscious guarding spells Raven knew, and Nicole would have a location. All of her spells were neatly in place to find that magic and trace the caster. There was only one problem with her careful setup.

Raven wasn't using magic.

She was on earth, at least. The cult hadn't been tracking portals, but it was in their interest to know when portals opened to or from earth. If they couldn't find her using magic, they would have to use a more generic spell. They didn't have a way to find her essence, but they could use a few key facts to drastically narrow a field of over six billion.

Nicole stalked over to a moderately competent magic worker working through the short list of half-demons. "Status."

"W-we're still working on it, Tanis," the girl said. "Kyoto was a bust, and-"

"Why the fuck would she be in Japan?"

"The o-orders were to check all leads, Miss Tanis, so we did. One of the senior casters had a contact in Tokyo, so it only took a little expense to follow that dead end. Male half-demon."

Tanis took a deep breath. Maybe she should have asked names before, but she had learned long ago to not let the new members know too much. "What's your name?"

"L-Lauren."

"Focus on countries she would have heard about," Nicole said. Being patient was hard, but she needed results fast. Four days had already passed without a single trace. She had sent trusted initiates over every accessible inch of Jump City. "Specifically, countries that speak English. Japan might have an English-speaking population, but she will be somewhere that prints street signs in English."

"Like England?"

"She might have tried the United Kingdom." Nicole tapped her nails against a diagram. "You're heading the other initiates, Lauren. Divide up the work as you see fit, but make sure the best are focusing on the likely locations."

Lauren gulped. "Might I make a suggestion, Miss Tanis?"

"Shoot." Not quite interested, but not dismissive- that was the right tone for this.

"Have you tried her mother?"

Nicole paused. How in the world had she missed that? "Lauren?"

"Yes?" The girl didn't even cringe.

"Call me Nicole. We will need a sixth for a casting."

Lauren's eyes shone. "Of course, Nicole."

It was too easy. Just like that, she had a new gopher among the initiates. Willing workers always did a better job. They were like puppies. Easy to please, easy to chastise when they pissed on the rug.

Nicole wondered if she had ever been that pathetic.

Probably, she thought with disgust as she walked away. Lauren was already trying to give orders without offending anyone, or letting anyone notice who was getting the more important assignments.

Fuck. Nicole knew why she hadn't mentioned that little detail. It meant that she was going to be dealing with Angela again.

.-..-..-.

"Jason? I think I left my coat at your place," Angela said cheerfully. She had teased him about being paranoid even while helping create their code phrases. Someone had just probed at the shields around her house, and she had an idea who it was. "Uh huh, no big deal. I was just looking for it while I was cleaning out my closet- yes, the black hole of improbable clothing-to-space ratios."

She opened her laptop. Her additions hadn't all been magical. The cult could have changed, but she doubted it. A few very small cameras monitored the hallway outside her apartment, the common areas of her building, and the outside. She was a little paranoid, as well, but the cult was very interested in her. From all she had learned, very few women lived to give birth to a half-demon child.

Angela took a deep breath. Thinking about that period of her life just made her feel sick. Jason wanted to know more about the cult, but he was being a gentleman. She still didn't know if that was a good thing. She wanted to get it all out of her system, but she wasn't sure just how much she would feel comfortable saying. He was a knight of the round table, for crying out loud, and sometimes that was obvious.

The cameras were clear. Someone had tried to find her, but the shields held. Jason had placed them for her. She could do it, of course, but that would defeat the purpose. Her shields would give her location.

"Sorry, I zoned out. Yeah, yeah, save it. If I'm old, you're Tithonus- yes, that was Greek mythology. The guy who-" Angela paused. This just wasn't a good day. "So brush up on your mythology." Of all the myths to pick- Tithonus loved an immortal goddess. He was granted immortality, but he wasn't eternally youthful. Over the years, he became so hideous to look at that his lover had him changed into a grasshopper.

"Could you bring it over here?" Angela asked. "I'm having one of those days. Not just the forgetting the coat, either."

"Sure thing, if you'll swing by a corner store and get a few ingredients. I'll read off the recipe- yes, I know the contents of my kitchen. That's one of two rooms that should always be organized." Angela's kitchen and magic room were always spotless.

Her mind wandered as she read from a battered recipe book and catalogued her kitchen. This was one of the few things she had from her mother, a present from her sixteenth birthday. She'd always liked cooking. Funny, how cooking had seemed like magic to her. She had talked about going into culinary school, before her bad year. She'd called it her hell year, while she was living it.

_Focus, Angela. _"Of course I have cinnamon," Angela said, feigning offense. "You picked up on that, huh? I was trying to keep my head out of the clouds, but that's not working so well. We could try something easier. Any suggestions?"

She peered into a cupboard. "We can break in a new pan. It sounds great. I wouldn't dare attempt a soufflé, today."

"You think?" She closed her laptop. "Don't worry too much about the coat. I only thought about it for a few moments, but the forecast looks clear. Yes, of course I want you to come over anyway- it's always more fun if someone else pays." Angela laughed. "You got it. See you in a bit."

Angela had a few habits that she was trying to break. She bit her nails when she was nervous, she swore when she was very angry, and she looked in the mirror whenever he was coming over.

She scowled at her reflection, but stopped almost instantly. She didn't want her dose of reality that fast. Scowling that way gave her some very lovely wrinkles. Wrinkles were normal, and a natural part of aging. Unless a magazine was peddling some revolutionary new anti-aging cream, that was their line. Angela tried the deep breath thing again. Maybe that would stop her mind from hyperventilating. She wasn't old. She was thirty-four.

_And he's a millennium and a half. _

Some days, Angela really didn't like that pragmatic little voice in her head.

The phone rang way too loudly, startling her from a perfectly melancholy reverie. Angela looked at the caller ID out of old habit, and completely lost her sulking mood. The call was either very good news, or very bad.

"Hello?"

"Hello."

Angela kept her relieved sigh to herself. Raven called once a day, unless Angela had visited. Angela didn't know what had started that tradition, but she wasn't about to take the risk of asking.

"What have you been up to today?" Angela asked. There were two people in her life who could make her incapable of sounding like a thirty-something professional, and her daughter was one of them.

"Shopping?" Angela asked mildly, blessing her years on Azarath. No other culture would have prepared her to ask that without betraying any hint of emotion. "Shoes, huh? I can't help you there, Raven. I don't understand the preoccupation with shoes, or how a mall can support so many stores devoted to them. You noticed that too? Yes, people can walk in them. It's not nearly as hard as it looks, but you don't need to tell the boys that."

Angela laughed. "Boys aren't supposed to make sense, Raven. You're living with three super-powered versions. Worse, they're teenagers. Uh huh, I know, but remember. If they made sense, they'd be girls."

Out of habit, she checked the cameras again. It didn't hurt to be careful. The cult wasn't particularly interested in her, except as a way to get Raven. Angela wasn't interested in being bait.

"No, there isn't a way to politely tell someone he's knocking holes in his mind. How do you know he's doing that? Hm, I see- total repression and knocking things back, instead of coaxing that part of the mind into working with him. You could fix that? I thought so." Angela didn't mention Raven's problems with emotions. She would love to spend more time with her daughter, or at least talking about her daughter, but she had to be patient. Raven loved her space, not people.

"No, I don't think there is. Maybe- no, that wouldn't work either. I'm drawing a blank on this one. Break it to him as gently as you can?

"You would? You'd be the best one for the job, Raven- of course I think that. I don't lie. Of course I could just say that, but it's your choice on whether you believe me or not." Angela glanced at the laptop's screen. A tall, red-headed man was balancing two bags as he fumbled for her buzzer.

"Yes, that was mine- could you give me a sec? Thanks."

Angela pressed the intercom. "Come on up, Jason."

"Illusion spells?"

"You're paranoid. If they get your aura right, Mr. Blood, they certainly can break through shields," Angela said. "Come on up."

"I could stay around for a few minutes, if you'd like to talk," Angela continued on the phone. "You will talk to him? Just remember that he hasn't had the same training, and he's a boy besides. Boys can have very, very thick skulls. Yes, I am still voluntarily subjecting myself to dinner with one. I found one who can cook."

Angela smiled. "Best of luck, Raven. Good night."

"Good night," Raven said as she set the phone back onto the stand. Talking to her mother was much easier than wading through the crowds at the mall. She had taken a couple precautions, of course. Her mother's friend, or whatever Angela was calling Jason at the moment, had made a portable way to shield her from general spells. He couldn't make a portable version to conceal essence, but she could directly counter that spell. The more solid shields were set around the Tower. Starfire and Cyborg would tell Robin eventually.

Four hours at the 'mall of shopping' had been… interesting, perhaps even educational. Raven wouldn't make a hobby of it, but Starfire had lit up when Raven agreed. Literally. Someday, Raven would get used to Tamaranean physiology. In Raven's world, lighting up was a very bad sign.

She frowned. Of course, she had a new world now. It wasn't the most secure of worlds, with the cult probably looking for her, but it certainly was better than the last. The Titans weren't as bad as she had guessed, and they hadn't thought about asking her to leave. As long as she was staying with them, she might as well talk to the Titan who was having a few problems with control.

Her mother hadn't been able to think of a tactful way to bring it up. Raven was pretty sure she would scare people if she tried to be gentle.

"Excuse me," Raven said politely. If she couldn't be tactful, she could be polite. "May I speak with you about something personal?" So far, she probably hadn't said something insulting.

As expected, the Titan was mildly stunned. Raven wasn't very fond of conversation.

"Um, sure," Beast Boy said.

He was looking at her like she had sprouted an extra head, but puzzled was much better than scared. "Do you ever feel like if you lost control, something else would take over?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," he said. He was too angry, too fast, and too scared for his reply to be true.

Raven didn't ask. She sat on the couch so she would be at his eye level. "You know precisely what I am talking about. Continuing as you have been is ill-advised. You're going to hurt yourself, permanently. All damage so far can be reversed, if you are willing to learn a better way to control another part of yourself."

"Just what does that involve?"

"First, accepting that it's a part of you." Raven ignored the backlash of emotions from him. He wasn't nearly as loud to that sense as Starfire. "If you push it away, you'll only make it stronger. You're letting it have the hate and fear. Those are strong emotions. If you keep feeding it, it will get away from you someday."

"If that happened- the accepting thing- what's next?"

"Learning how to keep that part quiet, and just when you might want to use it."

"I wouldn't-"

It didn't take more than a glare to hush him. "As I say, you might need it someday." Raven stood. She didn't feel as awkward as she had anticipated. "Everyone has that side. Some sides just come with their own face."

"Someone told you?" he asked. She imagined that was what a child would sound like.

Raven shook her head. "I don't need a mirror to recognize emotions. If you want to start having better control of your other side, find a way to define it. It's part of you, but separate."

"Like a name?"

"Like a name." Raven started to walk away, but paused at the doorway when he spoke again.

"It already has a name," Beast Boy said. "Beast."

Interesting. Raven supposed this was the time where she said something personal. It wasn't quite a trade, but that was how conversation worked. She only remembered one occasion where she had completely lost control, but that had been enough. She knew what happened when Anger, Intellect, and Pride were in full agreement. The world turned to flickering yellow, orange, and red.

Just two weeks ago, she had wanted to return to that state of mind.

"Demon." Raven didn't say another word as the door closed behind her. Maybe conversations weren't so bad.


	15. Chapter 11

_I'm back from the wars, my darlings. Back from Girl Scout camp, that is, which occasionally is a very messy business. Angela and Starfire's scenes were written in the staff lounge, the one area on camp usually safe from campers. The others were written with the comfort of my laptop. I'll be busy getting ready to move for college, but expect to hear a lot more from the author who just won't shut up. More stories are to follow, but I'll make sure these characters are settled first. Enjoy! (And Kay? There is no way that Beast Boy's scene would have worked without your help.)  
_

**Chapter Eleven**  
Angela looked despondently at her mountain of papers. People with the best of intentions had given her enough paper to cover the outside of Titans' Tower, and still have enough left to wallpaper her apartment.

Cyborg had found a doctor he guaranteed to keep things quiet, a Dr. Silas Stone. The doctor had given Raven a physical examination, and didn't want his notes falling into the wrong hands. He had even been kind enough to give her an English version, too. If she could find the yellow legal pad, with the pink form stapled to it, she would know if pulse or antibodies had been very low.

The internet printouts Robin had found about Cult of Blood propaganda and recent activity were mixed with Jason's photocopies of spells Collette (or Tanis, or whatever she was calling herself) might be using, a letter from her landlord with an attached questionnaire he wanted back within the week, pages and pages of names from an internet white pages, and every bit of information she could find about Collette's many aliases.

It had been neat, more or less, but then the piles had toppled over when she had added one small pile. Cyborg gave her copies of the police reports, which she would read through.

Now, it was not close to neat.

"A forest died for this mess," Angela said mournfully. "There was a coffee table there, too."

"It can be remedied." Jason decided not to add 'eventually.' "Which part did you want?"

"Two things, for now- a few sheets of pink paper are stapled to a legal- that's it, thank you- and this sheet that fell off. I think this is all of it." Angela looked over the paper. "The yellow paper is easier to understand, the pink is the usual format."

"The rest of the papers can languish awhile longer?"

"Definitely." Angela didn't look away from the pink forms and tapped the general notes section. "Extraordinarily elevated pulse, superb reflexes, no antibodies for common pathogens like varicella." She frowned at the paper.

Jason wasn't sure what language she was speaking, but it wasn't the Queen's English. "Is that supposed to make sense?"

"Varicella is a doctor's name for chicken pox. It does make sense, if you've spent time around doctors," she said, still tracing over a list of tests.

"Have you?"

"My mother was a doctor," Angela said shortly. "Was. Is. I don't know."

Jason didn't ask about the pages of Roths living in the United States. "The doctor would have mentioned any problems, I think."

"Everything is fine, he said." Angela smiled. "Better than fine. Raven inherited my shining armor streak, and she's trying it out on Beast Boy."

"He is less than receptive?"

"He's fighting her every inch of the way." Raven couldn't stand it. Angela thought it was fantastic. "She's never had a fight like this before. It doesn't matter if she's strong or not. He's just as stubborn as she is."

"I thought Raven was speaking to Beast Boy about the personal problem."

"My little girl probably has the Roth family subtlety, which is just as quiet as a brick through your front window," Angela said fondly. "Starfire hasn't seen Beast Boy so much like himself in months. Cyborg doesn't know who to cheer on."

That made four residents of the Tower. "What about Robin?"

Angela shrugged. "I don't talk to him on the phone. Raven and Starfire don't mention him, for different reasons."

"You know those reasons, of course."

"Naturally."

"You want to show off," Jason said. "Go on."

"Do not," Angela protested. To complete the mature argument, she stuck out her tongue.

He _almost _retaliated- Angela knew it. There had been no real sign that he would do something so undignified, but someday she would get to him.

"Enlighten me?"

"Better. I think Raven is still more than a little irritated that Robin beat her in a fight. Starfire is in the process of getting over him. By all rumors, she's been getting over him for the last two years." Angela liked thinking about someone else's issues with relationships. It was a convenient distraction from the messes she would make of things.

"They'll be fine," she continued. "Raven just might challenge Robin to a fight, which would be interesting. Raven's idea of a fight is much different than his." Angela snapped her fingers and watched the reports about cult activity fly to her hand.

"You don't need a gesture," he reminded her, again.

"I like gestures," she said, again. "I grew up watching reruns of Bewitched. Be happy I never did learn how to twitch my nose." She was quite happy letting her mind connect magic to some visible motion. "I could do it without a gesture, if I felt like it."

"Do you ever plan to?"

"Nope, but I keep my options open," Angela said. She tapped a paragraph she had highlighted in bright pink. "The cult is recruiting, and more people are being promoted."

"How do you know that?" Jason asked.

"I found an amazing website. It's a haven for conspiracy theorists."

"Don't they worry about being watched?"

Angela laughed. "You would not believe how hard it was to get in. Once I was, though… I trust a third of what I read, but I read quite a bit."

"What do you trust?" Jason could use the internet. Angela could make it do tricks.

"The cult is moving. Tanis has taken one of the junior members under her wing, an old pattern." Angela set the papers on the couch. Jason, always polite, was sitting in the armchair. "The writers are missing a few key facts. One, Tanis is not benevolent, or interested in making an ally. She's looking for power. Two, the cult has nothing to do with other demon-following groups. Three, Trigon isn't after a destroyed world just yet."

"He wants Raven."

"Right," Angela said. "She's much better than portals they can make, and it's become a matter of pride for Trigon." Angela didn't smile. She didn't like thinking about just how few people would take Raven's side, should it come to a fight.

"The portal is three weeks in the making," Jason said. "That's plenty of time to work on counter-spells. The portal will not last more than two hours. All we need to do is hold Trigon off."

"Two hours," Angela said.

She took a deep breath. She could control herself better than this. What had all those years on Azarath been for, if not this?

"We can manage two hours," Angela continued, before a new thought crossed her mind. "Will you be around, for that?" she asked, only a little too casually.

"I'll be around until all the dust settles, at least." No other crises just needed his attention. Even if they did, he would come back to make sure all went as planned.

"Okay." She never did ask the important questions.

"Which other papers did you need?" He never did know how to answer questions like that. It was easier to not look too far ahead.

"The printouts you made," she said absently, already reading through the medical reports again. Angela didn't know what else to say. How on earth did she get into these things? "Three weeks from tomorrow, you thought?" If she didn't think about it, it wouldn't hurt. Maybe she was interested, but…

Who was she kidding? Immortal knight from Camelot, thirty-something mother with a history of bad decisions. He probably had to politely not get too attached every week or so.

All she had to do was look at the empty space on the couch.

"Unless they started early. We have at least two weeks," Jason said, a little too quickly. The silence had dragged on too long.

_We_, Angela repeated to herself. It really was a pity he didn't mean it the way she wanted.

.-..-..-.

"What are the chances of an explanation, Star?"

"Most good, friend Cyborg."

"What's up with BB?"

"Raven."

Cyborg didn't get it.

Starfire giggled. "You should play the games of video in the common room while Beast Boy and Raven are having an argument. It is more amusing than the television specials upon plantlife."

"You were watching the gardening channel?" He supposed that, in terms of evolution, plants were a step up from fungus.

"Your plants are not as diverting as I had hoped. You have none capable of eating people?"

Cyborg filed that with the other hundred reasons not to ever go to Tamaran, at least without Starfire around to point out hazards like homicidal gardens. "No, we don't have plants that eat people. Back to the fighting- who's winning?"

.-..-..-.

Raven didn't look up from her book until he was attempting to look angry. "If that glare is the best you can hope for, you should be much more in touch with Beast." Oddly enough, bringing his temper forward was the easiest way to get through to him. She didn't acknowledge the fact that she did better with conflict than conversation.

Beast Boy decided that, this time, he would keep quiet. He started the Gamestation, chose a fighting game, grabbed his favorite controller, and settled on the couch.

'Be more in touch with Beast.' Yeah, right after he had bacon and sausage for breakfast.

Raven didn't like being ignored. From conversations with her mother, her very odd approach of controlling anger by causing that same emotion was probably the easiest. He wouldn't know what to avoid unless he recognized the emotion, Angela had said. The monks on Azarath had discussed something similar.

"Have you given up, then?" she asked casually.

Beast Boy's character performed a very difficult move that would be very painful, if only he could direct the bunch of pixels at the other occupant of the couch.

He looked impassive. It actually was very good, as far as concealment of expressions went. He simply had not realized, or did not care, that he was dealing with an empath. They had been continuing the argument for three days, and Raven was well acquainted with just how his emotions changed.

"I expected more of a fight, to be honest, but it doesn't have to be an argument. I could write everything down for you, if that would be easier." She wished the interest was out of kindness, but she had a motive. The team would have enough of a problem if her emotions broke loose. They didn't need two ticking bombs in their midst, and she wasn't sure her mother was ready for so much contact. Angela would say otherwise, of course, but Angela remembered some smiling, laughing toddler who said things like "mommy."

Beast Boy glared at her before looking back at his video game. That one had to be better than the first. He was picturing her hair on fire. "Sorry, busy playing, kinda have to concentrate. Mind talking later?" Or not at all, he added to himself.

"That was a little better," she said in one of her more infuriating tones. She had tried that one on Robin, before. As expected, he had excellent control. "It is a pity that I have seen Starfire top the expression."

He turned back to the game. He wouldn't growl, he told himself. He forced the urge back.

Instead of a growl, a very strange sounding hiccup was his response.

Anyone else would have smiled. Angela had said once, trying very hard to make it a joke, that Raven's smiling muscles were grossly underused. It was just another reason her mother was delusional. Starfire would make a better daughter.

"Would you like to know why I continue to try helping?" Her old tactic wasn't working very well.

His hands tightened around the controller. What game was she playing? He wished she would just take up Gamestation like normal teenagers. "You like tormenting people?" he guessed.

"Not particularly. It was always odd, considering normal pastimes where I was raised," she said. Her usual tone didn't waver, as far as she could tell. "You have the potential to be dangerous, or to be very, very strong. Should things turn nasty, your team will need your strength.

"Don't tell me, you're siding with the Boy Wonder. I should train more, concentrate harder, joke around less, and know that I'm going to jail if I ever come close to losing control again. Sounds like fun, when can we start?"

"I would not agree with that," she began slowly. "If you were to act that way, as he does, you would not control the problem. You would exacerbate it, because your mindset would be too similar to the other."

His grip tightened again. He forced himself to take a deep breath and relax his fingers before he cracked the plastic. "Have you ever thought," he began very carefully, so it wouldn't deepen and roughen, "that it might be a good idea to not talk about this? Especially since I don't want to?"

"Have you ever thought denial makes your problem harder to manage? My mind is… slightly different, and I have tools to direct how my thoughts behave. Over the last few days, your Beast side has gained more definition."

Beast Boy threw the controller and snarled, teeth bared. "I don't care!" he half-growled. He froze, and his eyes snapped to the controller with the crack running along the side, and the tiny dent in the wall. He'd just… shit. Definite shit.

"I gotta go."

She only had time for a few words. Raven thought very quickly. "Your Beast doesn't scare me," was all she said. "If the transformation comes when it is not desired, an empath could reverse it." That would be dark magic, but it would be worse to let him start a rampage. Property damage could be repaid, but he could do far worse to himself.

Raven watched as he left the room. She picked up the controller and looked at the tiny flaw in the side. That she would ask Cyborg about. As for the wall… a few small pushes with her power erased the visible sign.

There had to be a better way to figure out how he would control his darker side. She knew that he could take control, from what she had read through empathy. He could start the transformation that made him stronger and allowed him to use untapped powers, and still know how to come back to himself.

Her finger stroked the cracked plastic. She didn't think it had been damaged, even when he was angry. She wished that she were a better person, because she wasn't doing it just so the team would be stronger, or so he would be able to understand who he was. She wasn't even doing it because the problem needed to be fixed.

Raven was helping him because she didn't understand her own transformation, and just what was stirring deep inside her mind.

.-..-..-.

"Pru. You're being sneaky."

"Come on, Courage, you know I'm helping out," the emotion wheedled. "I helped you convince Raven talk to Beast Boy yesterday, and that's helped."

"You should let her know what you're doing," Courage said.

"Her meaning Raven."

"Yes."

Pru shook her head. "Not yet. Just give me a few days." She tried her most coaxing expression. "Please?"

Courage huffed. She didn't like secrets. "You know that Intellect would pitch a fit."

"Intellect," Pru said, "is dangerous. She's shortsighted, besides." She paced the small corridors of the tiny place she called home. She couldn't set up a proper place while she was staying quiet, but she did have the bare minimum. "You know I'm helping out, Courage. She needs you, and she will need me when things get a little more complicated. We have to help Rae adapt. Intellect won't do that, Pride and Anger can't."

"You're going to want the others," Courage said flatly.

"Well, yes," Pru admitted. "We can't leave them in limbo forever, Courage, and it's not like they're as gone as you might think. I've been moving around for weeks, and I've barely influenced any decisions. We won't move too fast, Courage. It'll just be moments, at first, until Raven's ready for us. What do you think?"

Courage hated thinking things through. Pru didn't rush her.

"I might help a little, but I'm in trouble enough as it is," Courage said slowly. "I'm not one of the three Raven trusts."

Pru smiled with relief. She needed Courage on her side. "Happiness and Affection are staying very, very low. Happiness only peeks out during scattered moments when she won't be noticed, and Affection only ghosts around when Angela's on the phone. Very, very small brushes, nothing major." She paused, then decided to press her luck. "Have you seen Timid?"

"Around," Courage said vaguely.

"Courage." Pru crossed her fingers.

"I look out for her, Pru. Someone has to, and she feels safe with me," Courage said gruffly.

Pru smiled. So that's where the last emotion had been hiding. "I'll tell Raven, when it's time."

"You're welcome, Prudence."


	16. Chapter 12

_Classes start tomorrow. This is the last chapter that won't be tainted by organic chemistry and physics, ye be warned. (For the record? Don't expect much on Mondays. I have five classes, one of them a three-hour lab. Let me say now that I loathe Mondays.) Thanks again go to Kayasuri-N, who keeps me sane enough to write the fighting scenes. For those who wanted to see more of the guys, this is when I'm starting to move the perspective on the story. As for characterization, give me a few chapters or so. Key characters are changing as you read. Enjoy!  
_

**Chapter Twelve**  
Tanis drummed her fingers on her keyboard.

She had known it would come to this. Her pet among the initiates hadn't been able to accomplish a thing. Lauren had dredged up the rare hint, and several interesting tidbits, but could not find a current address for Angela Roth. No apartments, no phone records, no speeding tickets, no driver's license, no social security.

Angela had erased herself from the internet. Tanis wouldn't find a record unless she walked into the government building itself, or managed to hack into the official databases. There was a reason she appointed someone else to break into secure sites. She did not list that among her skills, and any resulting disasters wouldn't be on her head.

This would not put her in Trigon's disfavor. Tanis would be sure of it.

All she needed was a new approach. She couldn't use magic to find Raven, and appointed watchers in the city hadn't seen a single purple hair, and had yet to hear any rumors. Her mother couldn't be found with magic or technology, and her mother was the most likely lead to Raven's location.

Tanis liked puzzles that fit together just right. If she looked in the right place, she would have her answer.

She pulled out the folder from the Jump City Police Department. What sort of general things would they tell a lawyer?

Applicable laws, station policies, parking, numbers to call, billing- recommended hotel for any expert witnesses. Perfect. Angela and that so-called expert had looked rather friendly.

Tanis called the Eight Palms Hotel and Resort, Conveniently Located in the Heart of Jump City, and readied the voice of a relentlessly cheerful secretary.

"Eight Palms Hotel. How may I help you?" a polite woman on the other line asked.

Tanis immediately changed tactics. "This is Susan, from the Jump City Police Department," she lied. Instead of sounding cheerful, she sounded four minutes away from quitting. "One of the officers just asked me to find a forwarding address for an expert witness that might have stayed at your hotel. I'm sorry for involving you in a paperchase, but I don't have a better lead."

"The officer couldn't do it, naturally," the woman at the hotel said understandingly. "I'll look up your witness. We do get most of the courthouse traffic here. Did the officer give you a name?"

"Mr. Jason Blood," Tanis said. If she was the superstitious type, she would have crossed her fingers.

"Mr. Jason Blood, originally of London, England?" He had been staying in the hotel for some time, and who would forget someone with that accent and those manners? Not her, that's for sure.

"That's him, yes. Do you have the address?"

"No need for that," the woman said. "He's still staying in the hotel."

"Is his reservation for much longer?" Tanis asked, feigning worry. "The officer had an early shift, and won't be able to make the call until tomorrow."

"He'll be here awhile yet," the woman said. "He has a long reservation."

"Thank you so much," Tanis said. "The police officer can call him herself. Should she just call the front desk and ask to be transferred?"

"That will work just fine," the woman said. "I'm glad I could help."

"Goodbye."

"Goodbye."

Tanis smiled. So, the ever-moving Jason Blood was staying in one place for some period of time. There was precisely one demon worth investigating in Jump City. If she tailed him, without the slightest trace of magic, she would find Raven.

She put the folder back in its place before leaving her office. It was time to begin the casting, and to put wards around the city. Trigon would come in three weeks, and it paid to be ready.

.-..-..-.

Beast Boy had been working up to the point all morning. Seeing _her_- even catching her scent- didn't improve his mood. His anger needed a target. His target was sitting on the couch, eyes closed. She didn't hear him approach.

"Alright," he growled, invading her personal space in a way he would hate. "Let's get one thing straight. Leave. Me. Alone. No more talking about THAT and no more pestering me and no more talking to me about anything more important than the weather! Got it?"

Raven had not expected him to confront her, at least not after just a week. She should have known he would challenge her. If Beast Boy was angry enough to sustain Beast, he would be mad enough to come right to her.

"You would prefer to ignore Beast, then?" she asked politely as she stood.

"Yes! Give the girl a prize," he sneered. "She finally gets something basic. About damn time, too."

"Such eloquent language," she said dryly. "Instead of wasting your fine sentiments on me, why don't you deal with your problem instead of just hiding from it?"

"You're easier to beat," he said. He could turn that to his advantage. "I mean, Robin knocked you out with his staff. It took a heck of a lot more to take that thing down."

Her expression did not change. "There has to be some advantage to a thick skull. Your 'thing' would survive an encounter with Trigon?"

"It'd be smarter. It'd run away."

"Running is your answer to everything?"

"Not everything," Beast Boy growled. "I'd have no problem fighting you. Your dad's another matter, not just because he outweighs a blue whale by a couple hundred tons."

"Would you like to fight me when I'm not keeping someone who outweighs a blue whale in your dimension? That can be arranged."

"Why not? See how you handle a lion or tiger. Did you know they can shatter human bone without trying?" He grinned, displaying fangs just as sharp as hers.

"Human bones won't go right back together," she said without hesitation, not showing any reaction to the reminder. She wasn't human.

"You can regrow lost limbs? Didn't know you were a gecko."

"You would not get close enough to make that a necessity."

"Wouldn't I? You sure let Robin in close." He leaned closer, making her take a step back. "You weren't sure around a handsome guy, maybe. I mean, can't say for myself, but the magazines are pretty impressed. Can't hold your head around guys, eh?"

Raven was stuck. Admitting weakness was not an option. "If you knew anything about me, you would realize that it is not a possibility."

"Isn't it? You're half human, and demons must have a few carnal urges. Otherwise, there wouldn't be any, with how often you keep killing each other off."

"I don't kill. Even you aren't worth that."

Beast Boy took a step back. "You're making my nose burn. Don't you take baths, where you come from?"

"Better than burning the eyes of anyone unfortunate enough to behold you."

"Green's a natural color, unlike gray," Beast Boy said.

"You speak for natural, now?"

"For the animals. Lots of plants are green, so a lot of animals are green."

"Go sit in some grass, then," Raven said.

"There's nowhere for you to go that'll make you invisible, except back home. Oh, wait, you can't go there any more, can you?"

"That is not my home. I burned the bridge that connected me to Trigon," Raven snapped.

"Yeah, daddy's little girl finally had her first rebellion. How'd that work out for you?"

"Better than it would if you confronted Trigon."

Beast Boy grinned. "We've been over this. I'm smart enough to not confront Trigon. You, on the other hand…" He tilted his head. "Well, the jury's still out on your intelligence."

"You run from your problems. I confront mine."

"Thought you didn't have problems. Isn't that why you keep harping on me, to distract yourself? Man, you need a hobby besides that freaky floating in the air thing."

"Meditation is not a hobby." There was only one problem with the idea of getting him mad enough to release some of his pent-up rage. She had to control her own emotions and watch his.

"Sure seems that way to me. What good does it do? When you're done, you're still a freaky half demon who's too nosy for her own damn good!"

"Still at the point and name stage, are you? I don't know why I even tried." That was it. Raven didn't need another reminder that she was half demon. Before, being half human had been the cause for so many snide words. Now, it was the other half.

Beast Boy smirked, and leaned back against the window. "Thought you confronted your problems," he said, just before the door closed. There was no retort.

A minute later, he frowned. Winning wasn't as fun as he had thought.

.-..-..-.

"Cyborg, have a minute?"

"Need something on the computers?" Cyborg asked.

Robin shook his head. "It's not anything about computers."

Now that was new. Cyborg turned and actually took a look at the expression on Rob's face. "Better not be telling me that training got moved."

Robin smiled wryly. "I'm that bad, huh? Past few weeks… I just figured out how much I've let him get to me again."

Cyborg smiled. Robin still had his periods of time where he was the Leader of the Titans before he was a Titan, but they were getting fewer and farther between. "'Him,' huh?" Sometimes, Cyborg thought Gotham wasn't far enough away. He never wondered why Robin had left to find his own way. "What was Bats getting on about this time?"

It was nice to talk to someone who wasn't impressed with Batman. Batman was a technological genius, sure. Cyborg had reprogrammed his arm into a cannon, using two dimes and a gum wrapper. "Something about Raven, actually," Robin said. "He managed to catch a rumor that she's staying here."

"Never mind that we didn't tell the Justice League," Cyborg said. "Jason Blood still thinks that the cult is trying to find her."

"Yeah, someone called him about that, too. Contacts in Japan, Paris, wherever are calling about people who don't quite fit in asking about half demons."

Cyborg whistled. "Big deal, huh? Good thing she's with us. Bats mention how he got wind?"

"He hacked our system," Robin said flatly. "Apparently, we're not secure enough."

"He what?" Cyborg shook his head. "You know, Rob, that explains the last few weeks. Next time, tell me. Tell me when you know. If you'd asked me about computers again, I probably would've thrown you through a wall."

"Next time?"

"Next time something is bugging you," Cyborg amended. "I'm going to add in a few precautions. Nothing aggressive, but if someone tries to slip in, they get a friendly message. Want to write it for me?"

Robin grinned. "I think I could manage that. Anyway, do you know what's up with Starfire?" His smile fell. "She ignored me, earlier. I don't think she's ever done that before."

Cyborg knew exactly what was up with Starfire, but he didn't hesitate. That wasn't his to tell. "You could try talking to her. Explain what was up with you this time, let her know the next time you start acting like a mini-Batman, she gets to smack you. I know that'd cheer me up."

"Yeah, yeah- wait, mini-Batman?"

"Gloomy, way too intense, oblivious to Starfire getting angry, and completely missing the war going on in the common room." Cyborg was tired of cleaning up messes after they happened. He waited until Robin took a deep breath. "So, going to talk to Star?"

"Yes."

"If you see BB, you might want to mention a certain overreaction of yours." It was about time he took a side. "I don't know what B thinks, but it's not going to end up pretty if we all don't listen to him. I think we screwed up. For all we know, it goes with turning into all those animals."

"I'll talk to him, when I get the chance," Robin said. It was about time they acted like a team.

"Keep your cool," Cyborg advised. "Really, I'd worry more about Starfire. You don't want that temper headed your way."

"Cy?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

"No problem, Rob." Cyborg went on his way, and Robin went on his. Cyborg knew without checking it was the longest conversation they'd had about anything that mattered.

.-..-..-.

"Good evening, Mr. Blood," the receptionist said cheerfully.

"A good evening to you, Miss Ashley."

She smiled. Not many customers remembered her name, even after a month. Maybe that was why she had written down a message earlier. "Someone was calling for you, from the Jump City Police Department. An officer wanted your forwarding address for a current case."

"Which officer?"

Ashley tapped her nails against the countertop. "The secretary didn't mention. Susan called for the address, and said that the officer would call back and ask to be transferred." That was odd. "Susan didn't leave a last name."

Something wasn't right. Etrigan was quiet, which never was a good sign.

"Thank you," Jason said. There was no reason to be rude. Ashley had no idea what she could have done. He had his share of enemies, after fifteen hundred years, but he could think of one in Jump City. "I won't be in for long tonight. If the officer cannot reach me, will I be able to get a message?" An officer could have called, he supposed, but none in the Jump City department would want to reach an expert witness. That was a job for lawyers.

"Of course, Mr. Blood."

There were problems with helpful staff. Ashley always made a point of saying hello, but she wouldn't be at the desk much longer. She had taken a call at two in the afternoon, and the shifts at the hotel ran from after lunch to nine o'clock. She would assume that he had left his room, which meant he could be a little more discreet in just how he left.

The hotel staff thought that he preferred to keep his own things tidy. That was true, but not the entire reason he politely declined maid service every day. Maids would find several of his possessions very odd, and he did not want anyone touching his makeshift worktable.

He made the call first, naturally. Sophie answered the call, remembered him, and mentioned that Carmen would be the only officer to call him. All Jason needed was one question. There was not, and had not been for years, anyone on payroll named "Susan." Jason thanked her and was off the phone before she could start asking about the problem.

Ashley had written down the phone number. Just as he thought, it was an unlisted number in Jump City the phone company didn't recognize. He did know enough to check records, no matter what Angela said. She would have to know, of course, but the chances of an invitation were slimming. He recognized the stages, of course, but there was little he could do. It wasn't easy for him to watch, or for her to feel.

Some days, he didn't recognize Iason of the Blood, knight from Camelot. He just felt like a heel.

Angela liked him. He was a fool to not have noticed sooner, but he still couldn't find the exact point where friendly laughing had turned into a minor attraction. He did know just when that had changed again. Now, she wasn't sure about that feeling any longer. Knowing Angela, she was blaming herself.

He was a heel, but nothing worse. He refused to lead on one lady after another, because his path was laid. He would never settle in one place, even if he would visit some places when there was time without a disaster. He did make it back to England about once a year, now that a plane could get him there in a day.

In the last two months, he had been to Paris, Constantinople (he still couldn't remember to call the place Istanbul), Reykjavik, Antarctica, and Jump City. Nothing the Justice League couldn't handle had drawn him away yet, but something would happen. If a demon wasn't trying to find a way in, or some magical working wasn't a disaster waiting to happen, some magician would try to trap a demon in spells.

The Justice League said he hadn't stayed still so long in living memory. He had replied, rather curtly, that in living memory he hadn't had such a precarious situation. Trigon was not the most powerful of demons, perhaps, but he was not far from that title. The oddity of the situation was where the real responsibility rested.

If Raven decided to be good, she would be very good indeed. Whispers would spread, and perhaps the next half demon found would not have such a chilly reception. However, if unpredicted factors guided her choice, or she was deceiving them all… there would be few ways to stop her.

He had started to become involved the moment Angela had spoken to him, and it had become far too personal for his comfort. He had not even spoken to Raven properly. Etrigan still gave the occasional discontented rumble, but all he had was a first impression. That would have to be remedied, preferably before everything became very messy.

He had less than three weeks. In that time, he had to keep the cult away from the Tower, not make any sign why he was staying there, and try to figure out what on earth he was supposed to say to Angela. The disadvantage of staying in one place was that problems weren't a plane ticket and several time zones away. She was still there, and he would have to say something. As for what he'd say… they were both adults who had no idea what to expect in this situation.

He didn't dignify Etrigan's crude contribution with any attention at all. That could be a mistake, but he wasn't in the mood for Etrigan. Life would be much easier, he knew, if he never had gotten involved with demons.

He ignored the telephone. Instead, he traced a design in the air with a finger.

It took a minute for her to respond. "Jason? Is something wrong?" Angela hadn't expected a call that night.

"I hope not, but I think the cult might have discovered that I am still in the area."

"Hm." Angela bit her lip in thought. "You might as well come over, then, the quick way. I don't think they would follow your magic. They'd have some kind of fun getting your signature." The cult knew exactly how her magic looked, even if it had changed a little over the years.

The important things would come up some other time. "I'll just be a moment."

Angela felt very silly, and very young. Sometimes, she wondered if people only _looked _grown up. She certainly didn't know what to say. "I'll see you then." Of all the things to say- she scowled at her mirror, banished her attempted letters to a drawer, and found her address book. If the cult thought they knew where Raven was, they would begin a casting. They couldn't hope to begin without hyssop. Asking around about a few key ingredients would be a safe enough piece of business, even if she couldn't decide whether to keep hoping or start getting over it.

Growing up, Angela decided, was overrated.


	17. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen**  
"If I did not call this meeting, who did?" Intellect asked coldly. Her face could have been carved from stone.

Pride glared back. Anger muttered beneath her breath about just how uppity some emotions could get. Courage leaned back in her chair.

"It wasn't me, but someone did take her time," Courage said. "Nice chairs, a table large enough for eight or so… pity some won't allow any further awakenings."

"Watch yourself. I have not forgotten what you did."

"Broke out of your spell, you mean?" Courage asked. Confrontation was in her nature. "Get over yourself, Intellect. I got Raven out of the eighth ward alive, and I got her in with the Titans. You were going to just wait until she passed out." She chose her words carefully. If she could convince Anger and Pride, then the small revolution had a chance.

"Be quiet," Intellect hissed.

That was an easy one. "No. You would have let her collapse without ever ringing that doorbell. She could have gotten hypothermia!" Courage watched the flicker in Pride's eyes. "Even if the Titans had found her, what would that have done? They couldn't trust her if they found her unconscious. The only place left would have been with Angela, and Raven still isn't ready for that."

"You haven't helped her," Intellect said, tone cooling. "She remains sure that Angela really isn't interested, and will come to her senses."

"If you would stop trying to direct what I do, it would be easier to make progress," Courage insisted. "You're Intellect. Facts aren't everything, especially when you get them wrong. Raven needs Affection and Happiness, Intellect, and who are you to judge Timid? There's no emotion to go with the uncertainty."

"Are you doubting my knowledge?" Intellect retorted sharply. "You know nothing of subtlety. What would Raven do, with so many new emotions? We are lucky that she has kept her control with the way you act up, Courage."

Intellect would have gone further, but she turned to face the new arrival. Her eyes narrowed. "You should not be active."

Prudence refused to take the bait. "I called this meeting, Intellect, and we can discuss who should and shouldn't be active another time. We have several things to discuss, and I propose a vote." She took a deep breath, and relaxed when she felt Courage's silent encouragement. Thank goodness Courage was with her. "Until now, Intellect has acted as undisputed leader in advising Raven. Her choices have not been the best. If not for interference from Courage, and occasional help from me, living here would not be a possibility."

"What do you propose?" Pride asked.

"A vote," Prudence said, trying to sound confident. "I am not so concerned with information. I think about the future, and every consequence big and little decisions can have. I want more help from you, all of you."

"I will not allow it," Intellect said sharply. "I will bind you again, and this time-"

"Let her speak," Pride said, back straightening. "What use would you have for me?"

Prudence would have crossed her fingers, but she couldn't be accused of immaturity now. "You're her backbone, Pride, and have been for years. Without you, who knows how long she could have held up? I'm sure that everyone has noticed that she backed down from a fight while Intellect held you and Anger back." Prudence thought it was for the better, actually, but sometimes lies did more good than the truth. She was Prudence. Pride took care of honesty.

"And me?" Anger asked.

"You and Courage work together well," Prudence said without missing a beat. "Besides that, you're the most useful to have around in a fight. If you stay in control, she stays in control."

Courage stood. "I'm with Prudence. I helped her break free because I thought we needed her. She's the one who helped me get Raven to start calling Angela, and we all know that's worked wonders."

"Slow wonders," Intellect began scathingly, but no one was listening.

"Prudence," Pride said, tossing her hair. Intellect had ignored her contributions, or dismissed them as petty.

Anger was the last. "You better keep your promises, Prudence."

"Intellect, I still-"

"Save it, Prudence," she interrupted. "I won't work with you."

Prudence bit her lip as Intellect stalked out of the room. Maybe now the emotions could work together to figure out what to do, but they had just lost one.

"You did your best, Pru," Courage said. "Damn good, too. What do you guys think about getting the others?" she asked brightly.

Pride shook her head. "Intellect has said all along it would be too much so soon, and I agree. If you bring the others into advising, I will side with Intellect."

Anger's eyes glowed briefly. "You need us, Pru. If we go back to Intellect, your brief rein is over. Don't think Intellect will take pity on you."

Pru swallowed her protests. She couldn't afford to lose them. Helping Raven was her priority, even if it meant hiding the others for just a little longer.

.-..-..-.

"Hey, Starfire."

Starfire didn't turn around. She pretended to be engrossed in her pudding. She had just finished stirring, but Robin didn't know that. "I heard that you have spoken to friend Beast Boy." Her voice sounded curiously flat.

"Um, yeah, and I wanted to talk to you, too."

"What would you like to discuss, Robin?" Her stored grievances against Robin disappeared. Just when she thought that she would be mad at him, he came to her with an apology.

"I've been a bit of a jerk, again. I'm sorry."

Starfire couldn't help it. She turned around. "Robin, you are most forgiven. I thank you for speaking to Beast Boy. I made something for you."

Robin paled, just a little. That could be one of the most ominous phrases known to man. "What's that, Star?"

She laughed. "The instant pudding of butterscotch. Cyborg showed me how to utilize the measuring cups, and the instructions on the box were very easy. Add milk, stir, put in the refrigerator for several minutes, and then eat." Angela's advice had been perfect. Starfire would call her later to say thank you.

"That's my favorite."

She ignored his surprise and put the bowl in the fridge. "I know," she said. "If you will allow me to be excused, I will assist Cyborg in recalibrating the exercise equipment."

"Could you use any help with that?"

"Another pair of hands is always welcome, friend Robin."

.-..-..-.

Winning the fight hadn't been nearly as fun as he'd thought. To make things worse, his conscience still wasn't done nagging after more than twenty-four hours had passed.

Beast Boy scowled. She'd avoided him all day, and she still was annoying him.

This time, it wasn't really her fault. He was the one still trying to figure out how on earth to read her when most of the muscles in her face didn't move. Sure, she was annoying, but he was supposed to be the hero. He'd started that fight, and she'd walked away without using a single show of power.

Beast Boy frowned. He didn't understand why she was so interested. She barely talked to Cyborg and Robin, luckily for them. Starfire liked her, but that was Starfire. He growled at the thought, but that stopped quickly. What was she doing? Whatever it was, the problem was _not _getting better. She was making it worse. Maybe she should just get out of his home and live with her mother. He didn't know why Raven still wasn't staying with Angela.

If the bitch hadn't come to the Tower in the first place, he would have-

His claws were long and sharp enough to puncture his gloves. Beast wasn't getting any easier to deal with. If anything, he was getting stronger.

He was willing his claw to change back to fingernails when the door opened. He had his reasons all planned out. He could see the stars best from the roof, and it was slowly getting darker.

"You didn't think you could avoid me all day, did you?"

Perfect. Beast Boy banished the last traces of claws, she showed up. Who knew what would happen this time.

Raven hesitated. "Five minutes. If my way doesn't work, you can keep ripping your mind up like a wet napkin."

"You don't know what you're talking about. There's a reason for the Beast's name."

"I can take care of myself, and no one else is here. If I can make a gate larger than this building, I can keep that door closed." The door leading back into the tower was reinforced, and made for humans, not beasts. "Your Beast isn't what you think."

"It's sure as hell not what _you _think it is! It's not me. It's something nastier, and I don't care if you can defend yourself. If it gets loose on the city, people could die."

"It won't escape. The last time someone met your Beast, they attacked. Even if Beast attacks me, I've met worse."

Beast Boy shook his head. "You only think you've met worse."

Raven, naturally, didn't look wary. She looked amused. "Any demon worth fighting is at least that size. I'm an exception."

Beast Boy fought the urge to growl. "Maybe it's a different kind of worse."

"If I'm wrong, then I'll take care of Beast without leaving a mark," she promised. "Your Beast is triggered by anger."

"Gee, what gave you that idea?" Beast Boy mumbled.

She continued as if she hadn't heard him. "I'm an empath. I'll know if your Beast is a danger, and can handle matters if he is."

He owed her, after what he'd said. He'd figured out why it bothered him so much, that he'd snapped at her. People used to say stuff like that about him. "Fine," he spat. "Just don't say I didn't warn you."

"Wouldn't dream of it."

Beast Boy clenched his eyes shut and concentrated. He'd always avoided the tight coil of instincts that screamed _territory hunt eat sleep defend _and things he'd rather not think about. This time, he undid the knot binding them shut.

A second later, his muscles twisted and stretched, his ligaments and tendons pulled against changing bones and muscles, his bones bent, hair sprouted everywhere, his hearing took in every sound and his sense of smell noticed hundreds of new scents, and it hurt, it _hurt_-

The Beast opened his eyes and snarled.

Raven frowned. No one had mentioned that his transformation hurt.

"Good evening." When in doubt, it was best to be polite. "If you want to be intimidating, that won't work. You would have a better shot if you started glowing."

The Beast tilted his head, and looked around the area. It was high above the ground. The smooth surface beneath his feet was similar to rock, but only enough to make him uneasy. The floating female was different from the one that had thrown green stingers from her hands, but he trusted no one. He growled, warning the female. This was his territory, and he did not share.

Raven didn't growl. She moved closer. She wasn't afraid of the Beast.

The Beast bared his teeth and reared up on his back legs. The female did not smell like the others who had attacked him. She was new, strange. She did not belong in this place.

"Fangs? I could have a set of my own, thanks." He didn't like her. What a surprise.

The Beast's ears twitched. The female had made no threatening move towards him. He sank back down on his haunches and continued to watch her. The males of her pack had done a poor job. She was fragile-thin. Maybe that was why she had come to his territory. They had enough food.

"That's a little better." She doubted he could understand, but the tone mattered more.

The female was still not attacking. The Beast rumbled low in his chest, a warning. She wasn't welcome yet.

"As fascinating as this is, I doubt either of us wants to stay out here all night." Strange. Beast made more sense to her than any of the Titans. She moved forward again, leaving some space between them.

He watched her carefully, then reached out with one paw. He kept his claws curved away from the female. She didn't look like a threat.

Raven scanned his emotions. She didn't look so closely at people, but their minds were too busy. Beast didn't mean any harm. She touched his paw, and glanced at the claws out of interest. Those could be nasty pieces of work.

He rumbled again, this time more welcoming. The fur along his back smoothed. This female was not a threat. Almost-pack.

"You're not so bad," Raven said. Prudence was all too pleased that her plan had worked. Raven blocked the emotion's voice with a thought. She would consult them later. "You might even be able to meet your team properly."

The Beast snarled quietly. He knew that word, 'team,' It came with green stingers and loud noise and the male that kept trying to beat him with a stick. They were his team, but not his pack.

"Hush," she reprimanded. "They didn't know any better. Your mind is divided, that's all. Thank your lucky stars you only have two pieces."

The Beast continued to rumble, lips pulling back slightly to show his fangs. He did not like the team. They turned on him, which was wrong. They smelled like pack, but did not act like pack. He ignored the female.

She reached, but not with her hands. Raven soothed the muttering emotions. "It's okay." Introductions would be slower than anticipated, if mentioning the team would get him worked up. "They didn't understand. This time, they can get it right." She added just a small push of confidence to make the words hold.

He settled, lips lowering over his fangs. The female had strange tricks. Perhaps the stick-female was stronger than she looked.

"That's enough," Raven said quietly. "Good night." She moved very slowly, quieting the anger and confusing behind Beast.

His eyes started to droop even before he yawned. He didn't fight the urge to curl up and sleep. This was his territory. The female was not a threat.

The change back was easier. Beast Boy sat up, stretched, and blinked. "My headache's gone. I think-" He might have said more, but he could feel the night breeze. He had felt it before he changed, but not all over his body.

Shit.

"You were spending too much of your attention pushing the Beast back," Raven said, touching down on the ground. "He's very smart, you know. He can recognize some words, and has complex emotions."

He had to be freaking purple. "Uh… I guess?" What was she talking about? "It is? It can?"

"Yes, he can. Beast didn't like the word 'team,' but that can be fixed. It would take more work to get Beast to successfully meet your team, but it can be done."

"I… uh…" No headache, but no clothes. Just his luck. "Raven-can-I-borrow-your-cape? I promise I'll give it back, and wash it first."

Raven frowned. "It isn't that cold, is it?"

"Well- uh- yeah, but- um- I kinda wrecked my outfit." He wouldn't stop blushing for a week.

"Would you like to return to your room with no one seeing?"

"Yes!" God yes. "How?"

"I could make a portal," she said. "One step, and you're there." She had walked by, once, when his door was open. That was enough. "It might feel… strange, but it is easiest."

"I'm not up to turning into anything, right now." Everything ached, but not in a really bad way. He'd be sore the next day, but he could handle it.

Raven made the portal look like a door. For some reason, that usually helped. "Good night." She closed it when she was sure he was in his room, then looked up. She could go back inside, but she never had taken the time to look at the stars.

.-..-..-.

Tanis stared up at the sky. She never understood what people saw in stars. They were too far away to be of any use, and her problems were much more immediate.

Her plans involved very delicate timing. She couldn't skip town before Trigon came. The spell had just been started yesterday. That gave her a window of exactly three weeks, and two of those days were gone. In that time, she had to find Raven, finish all business with Angela, take the time to fix all of her accounts, placate Trigon, pretend to occupy all her time with proper matters, and make her escape final.

She wasn't going to be a flunky to a demon all her life. She was a well-compensated flunky to be sure, but it was a matter of pride. She would make something of herself.

Her agents were busily redoing their work. Tanis smiled. She deleted all of their painstakingly phrased reports. Raven had barely heard of countries across the oceans, and Tanis had her lead. Jason Blood was in Jump City. Hacking into the hotel's phone records had shown quite a few calls to a certain apartment.

Who would have guessed that Angela had something for demons, after last time?

She had more information than a self-respecting investigator needed. She had dreamed about being a private eye, when she was little and stupid. Now, she was very private about just where her eye was looking. She wasn't the gambling type, but she would gladly place money to guess where Raven was hiding. Her guess was shaped like a T.

Now, all that was left was to confirm that without anyone the wiser, and plan details of her getaway while looking very busy with cult business.

_Get a look at the stars while you can, Raven. You're going back where you belong._


	18. Chapter 14

_Review replies will be reliable again starting with this chapter. I did try to make up for the many that I missed over the summer and first couple weeks of college, but I'm sure that I've missed quite a few. Last note: Kayasuri-N rocks for her help with Beast, and for being insane enough to keep up with me. Don't know who she is? For shame! Go read her stuff, she's in my favorites. _

**Chapter 14**  
Starfire held her breath as she reached forward. She couldn't tell if she was nervous or excited, but she touched Beast's hand. His expression was focused. He was much smarter than they had guessed, she noticed guiltily.

"Hello," Starfire said. "Raven has said very little, about working with you, but she has made remarkable progress in just four days."

Beast looked to Raven, then back at the girl-who-could-glow. She was not attacking, and was not scared. She was dark-shy, careful.

"I didn't have to interfere," Raven said. "I used a little power, the first time I met him, but I haven't had to do that again." Beast had wanted to meet Starfire, and had let her approach after a cautious minute.

"You are part of friend Beast Boy, but are not him," Starfire said to Beast. "I am glad to have met you, and hope that you will remember me when we meet again."

He didn't know her words, but her tone was soft-nice. Part of his Pack was beginning to understand, then. "Beast Boy" was his other-body, the small one that could speak their words.

Starfire smiled as she drew back. "I do not wish to exhaust you. I know that this transformation takes much of your energy." That explained why Beast Boy had been a little more tired and much more happy. It did not explain why Raven was spending even less time with others and seeming more tired.

"This is wondrous, friend Raven," Starfire said warmly. "Perhaps you will aid me in the preparation of the dinner? Cyborg and Robin have both offered to teach me the joys of cooking earthly cuisine."

She almost-smiled in return. Starfire had adopted her. "I think one student would be enough. I will tell Beast Boy, when he makes the transformation back. He can do so on his own, given a few minutes of calm."

"Glorious! I shall inform the others," Starfire said. She smiled at Beast. "It was my pleasure to meet you."

Beast watched the glowing-Pack leave the not-stone roof, then looked at Raven.

"You might as well learn to make the transition yourself." She still didn't know where she would go. Angela had told her it would be best to stay with the Titans, until all the fireworks had settled. It was easier to protect her from stray magic on an island surrounded by saltwater.

Protections could be made in an apartment, too, but the extra bedroom was set aside entirely from magic. Raven knew that from two brief visits.

He settled back on his haunches, ears pressing back against his head as he inhaled carefully. Her smell was different. Not bitter-angry or sour-sad, but… quieter.

Raven frowned. He wasn't as feral as he had been just days ago. His emotions were complex, which meant she couldn't understand him anymore.

Beast reached a hand-paw towards new-Pack.

Raven didn't move. She looked at him, and had no idea what expression was showing on her face. Everything but indifference felt strange, and like it wasn't the right thing to show. "You've changed."

That was obvious. He grunted and moved closer. Why did she stay away from him? He wouldn't hurt part of his Pack.

Raven took a step forward, still unsure what he wanted. "You wouldn't understand the meaning of personal space."

His ears flicked. Her words were pleasant-noise, and she was moving closer.

"What on earth do you want?" she asked crossly. She had enough to think about without Beast acting even more oddly.

He wanted her to smell happy-right. He grunted. She didn't know his language.

Raven stared as an idea started to take shape. "You like it when I talk, for whatever reason. Starfire keeps insisting that talking about what troubles me will fix the problem, somehow. If I talk to her, she will go and fix it herself."

He tilted his head. Even if listening wouldn't fix her smell, she sounded nice.

"You can't make out one word in twenty. Beast Boy won't remember." She had no one else to tell. "The cult wants me back to give to Trigon. Trigon wants me back because I can make a portal between worlds, and for pride. Everyone here but Starfire is nervous around me." Starfire and Beast, Raven amended to herself. For some reason, he liked her. "My mother has a two-bedroom apartment. One bedroom is reserved for magic."

That soft-quiet smell was sad. He grumbled quietly, trying to calm her.

"Your other form doesn't want me here. Robin would rather have me go somewhere else, but he wants to protect the city from me. Cyborg still isn't sure. That leaves Starfire." Maybe talking did work. She knew what had to come next. "I need to find a place. I don't know anyone else here, and I will not go back." Maybe words did have some power.

He shifted closer. Her word-sound had changed, and was better. She was even making a small mouth-smile as she talked.

"I will not go back. Maybe I could go to Azarath, to learn about magic." It was a small relief, to have another plan in mind. If Azar had accepted her when she was three, she would probably accept an older student.

She still did not want to be close to him, but was not fear-sharp or tight-worried. She did not like to touch, or to be close.

"You make more sense than anyone on the team." Raven shook her head. "You didn't trust me. You figured out that I don't bite, and that maybe I'm not like most demons, and then decided that I wasn't scary." Starfire was just one of a kind, it seemed. "Thank you, for listening."

He rumbled, a little pleased. It was nice to say the thank-you word. She still had a sad smell, but it was better.

"You should change back. You will have to learn how to do that on your own, you know." She should have never used her empathy. It was too easy to reach a little too far. Why else would he be so attached to her? "I won't be here forever."

His ears twitched forward. He put the memory of her not-right smell in his mind, and remembered the way her eyes looked. Maybe the smaller could make her not-sad.

She landed on the ground. "Go on, you'll be tired enough as it is."

Beast knew she would not make more word-sounds. He closed his eyes. The smaller one had a job to do, he thought before sleeping.

Raven said nothing when the transformation was done. Beast Boy had brought another uniform with him, and it was much easier to just create a barrier. Humans, she had decided, worried about the oddest things.

When he relaxed (he still didn't trust her to keep that shield in place), she walked away without a word.

.-..-..-.

Starfire excused herself after dinner. Robin and Cyborg had been very patient teachers in preparing the pasta, and it had quickly become something fun instead of difficult. If she did not try to imitate her favorites, things turned out less hazardous.

Starfire would ask Beast Boy to accompany them, the next time, but would not wish to exclude Raven. Including Raven, however, could create a different obstacle. Robin still checked the security. Cyborg had not had a chance to discuss anything with Raven. Beast Boy avoided her, whenever he was not undergoing a transformation to Beast.

It was enough to make her feel stretched. When she had inquired whether friend Raven would come to dinner, her teammates had stared at her. She had not retracted her statement, and now they were worried. Starfire bit her lip, thinking. There had to be something she could say to make things run a little more smoothly. She was the only one in the middle- or perhaps not.

She made a brief stop on the way to her room. Starfire rapped on Raven's door. "Friend Raven? You have missed the dinner. If you wish to have a meal, the uneaten portion is in the refrigerator."

"Thank you, Starfire."

"You have not been to meals with the team for more than a day, now. Is there anything you would like to discuss?"

This time, the pause was longer. "No. I'm fine."

Starfire did not understand that custom. If you were not fine, why would you say so? It was a very frustrating habit used on the planet. It seemed to mean that yes, I would really like to speak to someone, but I have not yet decided that my problem deserves such treatment.

She didn't say any of this, of course, because it would accomplish nothing. She could do much better by calling Angela, and perhaps she could complete two tasks at once. The earth saying was that she could kill two birds with one stone, but that was too violent to suit her wishes.

"Good night, friend Raven. I hope your dreams are pleasant."

Starfire didn't expect a response, and did not hear one.

She had her own telephone, a recent addition. Before, there had been no one outside of the Tower to call. Now, she and several of the honorary Titans remained in touch, and she often called Angela.

She dialed the number carefully. Robin had offered to buy her a phone with several more features, such as speed-dial, but she liked her simple model. The only complication was having a secure line. Robin had attempted to explain just how that worked, but she still was not sure that he was speaking English when he discussed such things.

"Hello?"

"Good evening, Angela. Have I called at an inconvenient time?"

"I was just about to wash my dishes. A soak won't hurt them."

Starfire did not see the use in discussing small matters before speaking her mind. "I am most concerned about friend Raven. She has been eating little, spending the majority of her time within her room, and appearing exhausted."

"Little?" Angela asked. "How little has she been eating?"

"I am not sure. I can only occasionally coax her into dining with the others. Relations here are not the best, as I am the only one friends with all."

"Do you have any ideas, Starfire?"

"Yes, and I hope that they might aid matters. Friend Beast Boy feels more as he used to, but Cyborg and I still believe he worries. Might you ask Mr. Blood to speak with him?"

"Jason?" Angela tried to think of a reason she could explain to Starfire. When that failed, she tried to think of a reason to just get out of the phone call. "Why would he speak to Beast Boy?"

"I think hearing from someone with a similar concern would be beneficial. Mr. Blood has seemed to exist in a world of his choosing, the last few times we have spoken with him. Perhaps it would be helpful for him to take this opportunity."

"When would this happen?"

"Tomorrow, if it is possible," Starfire said. "I will ensure that our schedule leaves time, and that no one of us would be present to drop eaves upon any conversation with your daughter. She says she is fine, but I do not believe that answer is correct."

"Thank you, Starfire. I'll call Jason."

"Perhaps you also would wish to go to the mall of shopping, this week? I think I can convince Raven to make the trip."

"Definitely."

Starfire smiled. "I shall ask her, then. Goodbye."

"Goodbye, Starfire."

Angela realized a few seconds later that Starfire could have called Jason just as easily. Angela was left with the assignment of calling someone she hadn't seen in days. Both of them were too good at ignoring potential problems, it seemed. Angela frowned. She was tired of that approach already.

He was too polite. This time, it would be in her benefit. She could make her case before subtle avoidance maneuvers had a chance to start.

She had four phone numbers on her cell phone's speed dial: the cell phone she had given Raven, Jason's cell, Starfire's line in the tower, and the delivery line for the amazing Thai place down the street.

She pushed number two.

The phone rang once. "Blood."

Angela smiled. He could be so predictable. "I know your phone's caller ID works, I set it up myself. You could say 'hello,'" she teased. Before he could form a (politely, of course) indignant response, she kept talking. "Busy tomorrow?"

"I had not made any plans."

"Starfire just rang me. A teammate of hers is having a rough time, and we think you could be a big help." A little slang worked in her favor. This time, she wanted him to take a little longer to decipher what she was asking.

"What kind of a rough time?" Jason asked.

"He has an abnormal transformation. With all the others, he's in complete control."

"Difficulty with control sounds like something Azar would have taught."

"You're not getting off that easily, Blood," she chided. "Raven has helped with control. I think his problem is how he thinks about Beast. How you picture things has a huge effect, as we both know. He doesn't remember anything that happens during this transformation, getting control back takes some work, and he has some preconceived ideas about just what he's doing."

"It's a different case."

"You're the closest we'll find. Would you try to help him out?"

She could hear the suppressed sigh on the other end of the line.

"I will make an attempt."

"That might be all he needs," Angela said. "You're the best, Jason. I'll see you tomorrow. Expect a car around two."

He didn't make any sense. She supposed that he might say the same thing about her, but she didn't know what else to say. She liked him. She could wax poetic on the reasons and just make herself mope, or she could do something more constructive.

She clicked open her internet browser, paused, and then typed "legends of Camelot" into her favorite search engine. If she was going to start anywhere, it might as well be the beginning.

The dishes could wait another hour or six, she decided when she had a good handle on the various legends, tales, myths, and true stories related to Camelot. She had a few more search terms in mind.


	19. Chapter 15

_When inspiration strikes, the chapters come up pretty quickly. The tricky part is getting the inspiration, but easily-found inspiration wouldn't be nearly as fun. Happy reading!_

**Chapter 15**  
Jason didn't know how he got volunteered for these things.

Angela had avoided him completely for three days. When she called, it was to pass on a message from Starfire. He had been surprised enough to agree. (That was probably because Angela had sounded amused instead of distant, and amused was much more promising. That was as far as he had gone with that thought.) That settled how he had ended up on the roof of Titan's Tower, but not why Starfire thought he could be any help.

"Do you come up here often? The view is remarkable."

Beast Boy shrugged. "Used to come up more."

He was usually volunteered for various crises involving magic sane people wouldn't look at, or demons. Often, the two went together. Teenagers were _not _in his repertoire.

"Used to?" Jason asked. Conversations weren't that bad, right? Take some part of the previous response, talk about that, and keep moving toward the desired outcome of the conversation.

That would be much easier if someone had told him why precisely why he was talking to a moody teenage shapeshifter.

"Raven started coming up here to think."

Jason looked left and saw open rooftop. He looked right, and saw just as much space. "Is there a reason you are not getting along with her?"

Beast Boy shrugged again. "She got it in her head that she should help with the Beast. That's what my team started calling some thing I change into when I get angry." Worse, she was making more progress in a week than he had in months.

Jason decided he wasn't completely inept at conversation. There was a world of difference between "some thing" and "something."

"Is it only when you are angry?" Jason asked.

"Yeah- no. I don't know." Beast Boy shrugged. "He's always there, but it's not just anger that would set him off. When I get too far into instincts, he's waiting."

"Would those be the base instincts?" Jason continued before Beast Boy could misunderstand. "The most basic. That does not mean they are the lowest, but that they are simplest. Protecting teammates, defending territory, and establishing dominance would be common examples."

"Yeah, like that," Beast Boy said.

That explained one thing. "You and Raven do not get along."

Beast Boy hesitated. "No. We don't. She doesn't care, and won't go away. She was around yesterday. I changed into Beast, and she stayed around to make sure I wouldn't try to eat Starfire or something."

"Would Beast try to eat Miss Starfire?"

He shook his head. "Not anymore. I'm not sure exactly how his mind works, but I think he's like a wolf. Lions are a lot different about girls, and about other males." Beast Boy had thought about it before. "If he's like a wolf, then the other Titans would have to be pack. Last time they met Beast, it didn't go so well. They thought that it wasn't me, so they…" Beast Boy shrugged.

"Attacked," Jason finished.

"Yeah."

Jason could start putting together the pieces. Between a bad first impression and Raven moving into the Tower, he had a few ideas. "You can't live as long as I have without learning a few things." Bringing his age into things made his lessons a little easier to take. "Do you know one of the main reasons people help with personal problems?"

"Because they're busybodies who won't leave well enough alone?"

"No."

"Because they want to mess everything up?"

Jason shook his head. "No."

"They're bored?"

Jason couldn't help it. He smiled. "Closer, but no."

Beast Boy sighed explosively. "I give."

Teenagers, Jason decided, made more sense than he had thought. They were sensible enough to say all the odd thoughts that came to mind, not keep them inside until they were convictions.

"People often help with personal problems because they are unsure just how to resolve their own," Jason said carefully. "I do not know how much you have asked or observed, but you are not the only person in the tower who struggles for control."

"Struggles for control of what?"

"Your own mind." Jason fixed Beast Boy with his very best enigmatic look. After a millennia and a half, it stopped quite a few annoying questions. "Do not worry so much about why she feels she should help you. She is helping, correct?"

"Yes, but…" Beast Boy's shoulders slumped. This guy wouldn't take arguments. "Yeah. She's just annoying."

"You would be irritated with anyone who came in to help with the problem, I believe," Jason said. "I can offer a few suggestions."

"You can?" Beast Boy asked, immediately more cheerful.

"The circumstances are different, but I would recommend associating some phrase with the change," Jason said. "If Beast can understand spoken language, instead of just body cues, he might be able to do the same. If you do this often enough, the transformation back can happen because someone just said the words."

"So, if I always say the same thing, it'll help me control it?" Beast Boy asked, making sure they were speaking the same language.

"Yes."

"Really?"

"I can remember several occasions when that has been extraordinarily useful."

"Thanks," Beast Boy said. He watched Jason without turning his head. "How'd you know about the body cues, anyway?"

"Starfire mentioned them." Jason decided to not mention that it had been through Angela. "She said that meeting Beast went very well, and that Raven only needed to intervene once."

"Raven had to get involved?" Beast Boy asked.

"Starfire was very impressed. Raven used words only, to calm Beast, and remarked that Beast is growing smarter."

"Really?"

"Really," Jason said. "Do you feel any better, normally? Keeping away a separate part of the mind takes some getting used to." 

"Yeah, actually. I don't worry so much about Beast getting away from me." He kicked his feet over the edge. Jason had sat a few feet back, but Beast Boy didn't need to worry about hitting the ground. "Has Etrigan ever gotten away from you?"

"Yes, actually." Jason ignored Etrigan's helpful contributions. "It was not pleasant."

"Someone brought you back?"

"Yes."

Beast Boy didn't ask. Superheroes learned fast to not ask after a response like that. "How did Starfire get in touch with you?"

"Through Angela."

Wasn't Beast Boy fifteen or sixteen? He shouldn't be smiling like that.

"People help to get their minds off their own problems, huh?" Beast Boy grinned. It helped to remember adults had problems, too. "She likes you. You like her. What's the problem?"

Jason could have just left, but Beast Boy had been candid. "Age difference," he said curtly.

"You don't look- oh." Beast Boy stopped, like everyone did when they remembered that part of being around for so long. "Oh," he said again, before he looked back over his shoulder. "Does she care? Angela, I mean."

Jason didn't answer. That was enough.

Beast Boy shrugged. "Not my business. Thanks for talking to me about all that stuff. Not many people understand that kind of stuff." He stood. "The view around here is really good, and it's a nice place for thinking. If you want to stay around for dinner, there's always enough for about fourteen extra people, if you like meat."

Jason was staring at the ocean when Beast Boy slipped under the crack in the door. It was easy to turn into a small lizard, and the door to the roof squeaked. Besides, doors were for people without other options.

Beast Boy slid down the banister as a squirrel, just because. He crashed into Starfire, but he sprang off almost instantly and changed back as he hit the ground. "Hey, Star. I was going to help you with the dishes, since you did them for me my last turn."

Starfire smiled. "It is no concern, friend Beast Boy. All of the dishes were completed earlier."

Something about the phrasing… "Not by you, right?"

"That is correct. They were completed while we were battling Mad Mod."

"But who…" Beast Boy frowned. There was one person who could have done that, and her name was Raven. "I can't picture her washing dishes."

"Perhaps that is because no one saw her."

Beast Boy thought for a second, then shrugged. "Fair point. I'll take your next turn, Star."

Starfire hummed to herself as Beast Boy tore off, yelling about Mega Monkeys and looking for Cyborg. It was past time that things in the tower became normal again. Beast Boy had been growing steadily more typical over the past several days.

Beast Boy found the GameStation, and the controller that Cy had fixed up again. He just wasn't sure where to find Cy or Rob. Star would play, but when she got into the game they usually lost a wall. Besides that, Raven was sitting on the couch. He didn't think she would appreciate the soundtrack, or playing, but it was worth a shot.

He'd had a good morning, when changing back from Beast was easy, even with an alarm going off in his ear. He hadn't made any mistakes against Mad Mod. Talking to Jason made a few more things make sense. He was having a good day, and he always pushed his luck.

What was life without chances? It wouldn't be so bad to spend time with her if she'd do something he liked. "Hey, Rae, wanna play GameStation?"

Raven opened her eyes. "One. My name is Raven. Two. No." Without empathy, she could have noticed he was in a good mood. With empathy, it felt like he was pounding on her skull from the inside.

"You sure? Hey, Angela's here. You talked to her yet?"

"I am certain, and not yet." She sighed when he jumped onto the back of the couch. "You are obnoxiously pleased about something. Did you discover recreational drug use?"

"Aw, c'mon, Rae." He was in a good mood, for once. She was about the opposite. Beast Boy considered retreat. At this point, it was probably smarter. His more confrontational side didn't like it much, but Beast knew that Raven could make his life a misery if provoked. She did enough when she was trying to help.

"Raven," she corrected. This was what he was normally like?"

"Alright, alright, I'm going. Sheesh. Try to spread the sunshine and get shot down." He realized that backing away hadn't been the best move when he tripped over a chair. "I hope you suffer some weird Tamaranean mold," he grumbled as he untangled his legs.

"I doubt the chair had much to do with it," Raven said.

"If it hadn't been in my way, I wouldn't have tripped." He put the chair back and brushed himself off. "Anyways, I'll leave you alone now. Bye!"

Raven shook her head. Once she was sure he had left, she stood. It would be easier if she made her way to the roof before Angela found her. She didn't want to talk to anyone, especially not nagging emotions that wouldn't give a straight answer. If Beast Boy was going to find something to do in the garage, the roof was hers.

She had hoped it would be hers, at least.

She didn't say anything. Jason Blood didn't even look over his shoulder.

After a minute passed, she decided that he did intend to let her meditate in peace. She closed her eyes and began to clear her mind.

Angela found both of them on the roof.

"Anyone interested in some dinner?" she asked. She had been surprised to learn that Jason meditated, but it made sense. She had learned a thing or two on Azarath, and one was that talking was the simplest way to ease someone out of meditation. "Starfire made this one all on her own, so it's quite the occasion. You'd have hurt feelings on your heads if you missed this."

"Beast Boy invited me," Jason said.

Angela smiled. "Starfire is ecstatic. You'll be spared, though, because Robin volunteered to try things first. She has never tried to make things like this by herself before. Most of the food she makes is what we would call inedible."

"She's that bad?"

"She's using the wrong ingredients," Angela corrected. "I think. The others visited her home, once, and to them the food appeared just as appetizing. I think it's a case of culture shock."

"For them or for her?"

"Both, probably," Angela said.

"Is something wrong?"

Angela couldn't help a small smile. She wasn't that easy to read. He was paying attention. "I'm not sure. Raven hasn't been going to meals with them, and I think Starfire's getting caught in the middle. Of all of them, Starfire has made the attempt to be friends." Her daughter was too far gone in her mind to hear them, for the moment.

"I could speak with the others," Jason said. "Beast Boy is probably a little resentful that she could help, after so little progress on his own."

"Would you?" Angela smiled. "Thanks."

He nodded formally. "It was no problem." He still didn't know what he wanted, but it wasn't to lead her on. In approximately nine days, the portal would open and there would be Trigon to deal with. In about ten, he would leave.

It was much easier to just go down the stairs to have a brief talk with the Titans.

For once, Angela didn't feel hurt. She didn't feel lonely.

She felt angry.

The emotion quickly faded, but it had been there. She took a deep breath, then let it out.

"Raven," Angela said. "Raven. You shouldn't have to go that deep." She stepped closer, pursing her lips. Starfire had been right.

Her daughter had probably lost some hard-earned weight. If Angela had to risk everything by moving Raven into her apartment, so be it. She didn't think either of them was ready for that much time together, but she was not about to sit back and let things get worse.

Angela tapped Raven on the shoulder. "That's quite enough, young lady," she said firmly. "Meditating too much will accomplish nothing but a spectacular headache."

Raven took a deep breath as she opened her eyes. "I can't focus," she said defensively.

Dinner could wait a few more minutes. "Have you tried using your mirror?"

"It makes me dizzy. I can't see all of the emotions at one time without the vantage point changing."

"Have you tried entering the mirror?"

From the small, confused changes in expression, Angela thought not.

"You can, you know. Anyone else who touches it could do the same thing. I used to go with you. It's like an entire landscape, there, that you can move around in with your own body. If you need to be completely away from all emotions that aren't yours, it would be a very good place to meditate. You also can call a meeting for all the emotions."

"I can?"

"After dinner, Raven. I don't care what you might believe, you need to eat regularly." Angela brushed a strand of hair behind Raven's ear. "Starfire just made dinner all by herself. You inherited my cast-iron stomach, I think. It'll be fine."

"After dinner, would you…"

"With magic, it's best to learn from someone who has encountered the spell or object before." Angela didn't have to say just how happy she was. Her daughter was an empath. "I'm the only person on this planet familiar with just how to use your mirror."

Raven almost-smiled. "Convenient."

Angela smiled wide enough for both of them. Raven had no idea.


	20. Chapter 16

_This is an example of characters running away from the author, and having better ideas than I did. (It would not have come close to this without Kayasuri-N.) _

**Chapter Sixteen  
**"Hey, Raven, would you mind sticking around for a little?" Beast Boy probably wasn't interrupting anything. Her eyes were open. "I want to try a few things Jason was talking about after dinner." She knew that he came up to the roof for that kind of stuff.

"Go ahead."

Raven hadn't thought of bringing a guest into her mind. Her mother remembered something else, and Raven wanted her control to be better first. She had thought about asking the emotions, first. For all she'd known, it was dangerous in her mind.

Angela hadn't said anything. She didn't have to invite herself, but she could have given some clue. Raven had needed the emotions' help to decipher just what Angela was feeling. By the time she adjusted and they settled down, Angela had already left for her home. Not Raven's.

Beast stretched and yawned, looking around the not-stone place. The dark female was sitting by the edge, facing out to look at the water. He waited for her to look at him. When she didn't turn, his chest rumbled in a low growl.

He paced towards her, then stopped. The dark female did not likecontact, he knew. If he nudged her shoulder, she would be not-happy. He would have to find another way to get her to look, something…

There. A round rock.

He picked the rock up in his mouth. It was soft, and his teeth punched through the not-fur. He dropped it at the dark female's side. Maybe she would like the soft rock.

Startled, Raven said something her mother definitely wouldn't approve. At least Beast wouldn't repeat it. "Do you always sneak up on people, or am I just lucky?"

Beast would smile, if he could find the right way to move his mouth. She was looking at him and making the word-sounds.

"Not tonight." She turned away. Couldn't she get any peace?

He growled, and almost shoved at her with his paw. His growl rumbled to a stop when he remembered that she would not like to be pushed off the roof, even if she could fly. Instead, he touched the soft rock with his paw.

Her eyes narrowed. She still wasn't used to having two, after three weeks. That only made her more frustrated. "You'd do much better talking to someone else."

He bared his teeth and tore at the not-rock with his claws. Why was she not-happy? She had a pack, and one of the rooms in the no-sky territory had her scent. What did she need?

Raven was better at control. "You found me on a bad night, that's all."

His ears pressed against his head as he whined.

"What do you want me to do?" She looked doubtfully at the soggy object he had brought over. It wouldn't be used again.

He batted at the soft rock, even when she did not want to play. Why did she just sit on the not-rock?

"I volunteered to watch, not baby-sit," she groused, even as she felt a little better. Beast liked her, for some reason or other, and he made his wants clear.

He moved to her other side. She would not allow him to jump down to the shore, and had not moved.

"If you jump off, you land right back here with me."

Beast growled and pawed at her shadow. He wanted to move. The air was clear, the breeze carried the sounds of gulls, and she just sat there. What was wrong with the dark female?

"Don't you believe in sitting still?"

How could she just sit there and make the word-sounds? He needed to run, or hunt, or jump.

"There isn't room," Raven said. Unless… hm. It wasn't her job to keep Beast on the roof. She just was around to make sure he didn't turn into some sort of werewolf, whatever that was. She opened a portal. "This is a much better way to get to the shore."

Beast looked at the hole in the air, then at the dark female. He whined as he backed away from the not-thing.

She closed the portal. She didn't need to defend everything about herself. "I should have known." It made everyone but Starfire and Angela nervous. Why would he be any different?

Beast stared at the dark female, head low. He had done something wrong, but he didn't know what.

"I'm an empath, not a mind reader. I don't know why you feel sad. I don't even know what all the emotions feel like." It was like trying to read directions in a language she was still learning. The words were there, but she didn't always understand them even before they twisted together. "If you want me to do something, you could give a hint."

Beast stared at her, then looked at the place where the not-thing had been. She had looked sad when the not-thing went away. Maybe she didn't know that the not-thing was dangerous, and that the air could disappear. Maybe it would disappear again.

Raven could recognize fear. "I'm not mad at you, and it won't come back."

He growled, unwilling to admit that the not-thing had made him worry.

"This isn't going to work," she said. The words had been sneaking through her mind for days. Talking had helped last time. "You're afraid of what I can do. My mother's leaving everything to me, and I never know what I'm supposed to do. Two and a half of four Titans don't trust me." She thought Beast still liked her, at least.

His ears twitched. She sounded mad, but looked sad and smelled sad-quiet. He wished she would like to touch. Some of the small-one habits would help.

"I do not set out to eavesdrop on conversations, but your teammates forget that I have very good hearing. Whispering carries." She shook her head, trying to find the words. "They believe I just might go back, and know some key weakness." It was a relief to say the words to someone, especially since he didn't understand. Starfire or Angela might try to fix the problem. "They don't understand. Trigon would kill me, before or after he had what he wanted. He can't let half a demon have the best of him."

Beast shifted closer. The sad-smell was stronger.

"My mother wants me to feel comfortable with what's happening, so I'm in charge of everything. Doesn't she know that I can't do what she wants? I don't know what's supposed to come next, or how we're supposed to get there."

He couldn't change the sad-smell or the tight-voice. His fur bristled and flattened along his shoulders. He did not like feeling helpless.

He hadn't meant anything. He just had no reason for deception. She moved close enough to put a hand on his arm. Beast didn't care if she was close, as long as the portals weren't. "You just don't like my powers. It's okay. I should have guessed as much."

Beast rubbed the top of his head against her shoulder. She would accept touch, sometimes, but even her dam-mother's scent was faint.

Talking was nice, especially since he wouldn't try to fix everything or start giving too much advice. Maybe she could get him to stop the touching habits.

Beast rumbled. Most of the sad-smell was gone.

Raven stepped back. She had her limits, and didn't need to start smelling like Beast. Beast Boy didn't come near her unless he wanted to make the change or was in the same room.

Beast grumbled and crouched on the not-rock.

"It's nothing against you. Your other half doesn't like me."

Beast snorted. The small-form was foolish, and needed to learn.

Raven smiled. "I'm sure he feels the same way." What had the phrase been? Jason and Beast Boy had mentioned it. "It's time to change back," she said. There was probably some catchphrase or other, but Beast needed things to be straightforward.

Beast growled, lips curling away from his teeth, but obeyed. The dark female had already moved back to the edge of the roof when he closed his eyes to sleep.

Beast Boy shook his head. Would he ever turn Beast and back without ruining his clothes? He'd tried, this time. "How'd it go, Raven? Was Beast good?" Where'd he leave his spare uniform? He was pretty sure it had been folded and by the door.

"He didn't want to change back, but he did when I told him it was time," Raven said. "No powers necessary." Her voice didn't change. Azar would be proud, she could almost hear Angela saying.

"Maybe Cy can train him to ride a unicycle, if he listens."

Her lips thinned, not that he could see. "He's not a circus animal. He has emotions, and understands more language than you might think."

"I was just kidding," he protested. There were his pants, and his shirt had ended up ten feet away, but he still didn't see his shoes and gloves.

Empathy triumphed again. Raven still couldn't tell if someone was joking.

"Have you seen my shoes?" Beast Boy asked as he pulled on his pants. He wasn't even worried about Raven turning around and seeing him without his clothes on. She just didn't care. It should have hurt his ego, just a little, but she didn't act like any other girl he'd met.

"The roof is solid cement. I'm sure you'll manage."

"Yeah, well, it's cold cement," he said. "Don't you think it's cold?"

"Yes." She had to keep her cloak between the cement and her skin, but the breeze was worth it.

Beast Boy shook his head. First Angela, now Raven. Why were all the Roth women cranky?

"How was your visit with Angela?" He was a masochist, that was the only answer. There was no other reason to be prying into Raven's personal business. Why did he have to play hero? He could have gone into a safe career, like lion taming. He at least could have taken his boots with him when he went back downstairs.

A second later, the soggy volleyball by her side lost all remaining air after black energy constricted around it. "Just like the others." Her head didn't move, but she was staring down and to her right. Angela had just warned her about losing control.

"Good, then?" he asked, sitting on the cement while he pulled on his boots.

Was he that dense, or trying to be obnoxious? "Just fine."

"Good, that's good." He stood, shirt in hand. "Why's the volleyball net torn up?"

"The same reason the volleyball is a corpse. No one was around to tell Beast how the game works."

He chuckled at the image of Beast playing volleyball.

"Is there a reason you are still here?" she asked. Usually, he took any excuse to leave.

"It's a nice day? The sun's shining, the birds are singing… well, the gulls are screeching. The roof's big enough for two."

"Especially when both are quiet." Going into the mirror hadn't fixed anything. She still needed to meditate.

"Quiet? I can do quiet, just you watch."

He managed two minutes. "Okay, maybe I can't."

"It's not for everyone."

"Do you have to be quiet when you meditate? I mean, what if you want to move or something? What happens then?"

"I lose my concentration, and begin again," Raven said.

"But why? Where's it written down that you have to sit and be boring to meditate?"

"With my childhood? I will take boring, thank you." Maybe that would shut him up.

Beast Boy tilted his head and sat down, making sure to leave her some space. Her body language changed when someone was too close. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean that I have to meditate, here." She had needed her high reserves of power. Now, she had too much excess.

"Why?"

Because if she didn't, things would break. People would get hurt. Her mother would give up. Trigon would have control. "Does it matter?"

"Guess not, I'm just curious. If I don't move around, I get jumpy. It's not like that for you?"

"I've noticed," Raven said, "and no, it's not."

"I would've thought… well, I guess I was wrong." He looked up at the sky. "What's it like, back at your home?"

"It is not my home," Raven said.

"What is it, then?"

"What brought this up, exactly?"

Beast Boy shrugged with one shoulder. "Curiosity." He hadn't actually talked to her before. "Haven't you heard about curiosity and the cat?"

"And the what?"

"Curiosity killed the cat," he said, shifting into a cat. He waited for her to look, then changed back. "But satisfaction brought it back," he finished with a smile.

"That makes no sense. What was the cat curious about?"

"It's a saying. I don't think anyone really knows what it means."

Raven looked at the sky. He hadn't said anything for at least a minute when she opened her mouth. "It's not nearly this bright, there," she began. "There's a reason I never face the sunset, or the sunrise. The sky is solid red, and most of the light comes from fires. Almost all the rivers burn."

"Sounds charming."

Her face closed. She had not been given a choice in the matter.

He could tell he had done something wrong. The set of her shoulders had changed. "Uh… Raven? I'm sorry for, y'know. Bothering you."

She should graciously accept the apology and figure out how people turned those exchanges into friendships, but she never had been good with "should."

"I did not choose to live there," she said clearly. He could tell that to his friends. "I did not choose to leave my mother, or to live there, or to be the portal between worlds."

"Oh." This was new. "I, uh, I didn't know." Should he leave and give her time to regain her composure- not that she'd lost it- or stick around? _And satisfaction brought him back. _He didn't leave.

"What did you think?" she asked. "Angela obviously wants to have a daughter again, she lived on a pacifist planet where people meditated as recreation."

"I… guess I didn't. Think, I mean." He scratched the back of his head, looking away. He'd never noticed how many small cracks were in the concrete. "I mean, you just… I don't know."

Of course they didn't think. That would defeat the purpose. She glared at the waves, not caring that they hadn't done a thing against her. Being angry was easier than being confused.

"Raven? I'm really sorry."

"For what?"

"Being wrong."

"You aren't the first person to be wrong about me." It was the first time someone had apologized for it, though. "I don't think you need anyone to watch Beast, especially if you give him some room to run. He's worse about sitting still than you are."

Beast Boy hadn't thought that could ever happen. "What if he decides to wander around town? People would freak, which would probably make him freak. Animals don't like new things."

"Ask Starfire to go along with you, then. You don't need me."

"Yeah, but…" Beast Boy shrugged, not sure how to explain it. "It's… easier, when it's you. Don't ask me why."

"Beast makes more sense than people do," Raven said. "He just doesn't like my powers."

"He's never seen something like them."

He wasn't good at silences. "How often do you see a girl who can fly, throw things with her mind, and I don't know what else? Beast has seen even less than me. A car's probably pretty new to him, let alone you. Right?"

"Cars, electricity, the ocean, television, what on earth people see in television…" Maybe Beast had just been startled.

"Beast likes you for some reason. Maybe because you've never attacked him."

She'd just attacked the city, but she kept that to herself.

He shifted in his spot, and finally pulled his shirt over his head. His teammates would never let him live it down, if he mentioned that he didn't like things that fit close. He couldn't change with anything else, though, so that was what he had to wear. "Wanna play a game? We have another volleyball somewhere, and I could fix the net."

She almost wanted to. Maybe he'd offer again, some other time.

"It's an easy game: you hardly have to think. Really, the point is not to think at all." He grinned. "I'm really good at it."

"Why am I not surprised?" She looked over her shoulder, considering. "Perhaps another time. I need to meditate." It wasn't a choice.

"Mind if I keep you company?" Jason had said that spending some time sitting still might help. Doing that alone was boring. "As an animal I can't talk or anything."

"It will get colder," she warned, The sun was setting.

"I can get fur."

"If you must," she said, which meant 'I wouldn't mind having company.'

Beast Boy grinned. Her words meant one thing, her body language meant something else. He shifted to tiger without a word and padded over to her side, leaving a few feet of space. His nostrils twitched when he smelt Beast on her arm, and he stifled a laugh. He didn't want to know.

She flicked a glance at him when she felt the change in emotion, but didn't ask. She didn't want to know.


	21. Chapter 17

_Did you ever have a chapter that just wouldn't work and a week (or month) that just left you wanting to shoot and/or strangle whatever came in range? That's what delayed this. _

_I would dedicate the chapter to all the people who left such lovely reviews, but I think everyone who has put up with a more-neurotic-than-usual science major deserve it a little more. (Especially Kay, who wrote through the scene at the end several times and only occasionally reminded me that I'm crazy.) _

**Chapter Seventeen**  
Prudence bit her lip as she looked around the ruined library deep inside Nevermore. Sometimes, being responsible wasn't any fun at all.

She had promised that she would do it, though, and she would. Prudence would salvage the wreck of memories until everything was in order. When Raven had brought Angela into Nevermore, the emotions had known that things would finally change. Prudence knew it was for the better. She wished the transition could have been a touch smoother, but there was still time to get everyone working together.

She would start with the oldest sections of the library. Organizing things and cleaning out the old shelves should be Intellect's job, but Intellect was in self-imposed isolation deep in the area Anger had claimed. Cleaning things up and trying to reorganize was Prudence's job, now. She had been the nice (crazy) emotion who volunteered to help set things straight.

Prudence remembered when things had changed, if not exactly why. All of the emotions remembered. Trigon had decided that Raven should be able to fend for herself, and that was the end of his protection. They all had known that Raven needed more strength, and no one had been able to figure out what to do.

She had been Wisdom then, she knew. She wished she could figure out what the distinction was, but that would come soon enough. The day before Raven was in danger, everything changed.

She remembered the years afterward, but not in detail. The best analogy she had found was that it had all been like a dream. Prudence scowled at one particularly battered shelf. She wouldn't have time for better comparisons for days at the least.

Raven had needed to start planning ahead. Not Intellect's facts and fast decisions, not Anger's store of power, and not Pride's quick judgments on how best to maintain a reputation. Raven had needed a way to think about how choices would matter later, and that's when Prudence had found herself standing in Nevermore.

Courage had found her first, thank goodness, and explained what she knew. Intellect was keeping control very tightly, and Anger and Pride's minds would not be easily changed. Luck and a little bit of planning had given Prudence the chance to start helping Raven.

Timid had been out a little longer than Pru had, but not from any special need on Raven's part. Courage had promised to look after Timid, years ago, and she had. Prudence had helped Courage keep Timid hidden. It probably hadn't done anything for Timid's confidence, but that couldn't be helped. Discovery by Intellect would have been much, much worse. Now, Intellect wasn't an overt threat. Not when Raven was beginning to understand.

Raven had brought Angela to Nevermore. Courage had been the first of them to greet Angela, just as expected. Prudence had waited until introductions were done before she answered the question Angela would ask.

From there, it had been easy. Happiness and Affection were back, finally, and there to stay.

Pru's smile faded a little when she remembered Intellect's self-exile. Instead of facing Raven's disapproval, Intellect had left. All of the emotions were finally there, but they still couldn't work together.

Before Prudence could figure out how to bring Intellect back to the group, she had to figure out just what Intellect had done when Nevermore changed. To figure that out, she had to organize the many files. She could search through the piles, she supposed, but she didn't understand Intelligence's labeling system, or Intellect's piles of books. It had to be done someday, and Prudence always had worked best with a deadline in mind.

"Hey, Pru. Want some help with this?"

Prudence beamed. "Affection, I think I love you."

"Isn't that my line?" She stepped over a book that looked dangerous. "From what Angela said, we have all of six days before Trigon comes back and makes a mess of things." Affection looked around the wrecked library. "Just what has been happening, Prudence?"

"It's a long story."

Affection set her cloak aside. Lavender and grime didn't go well together. "We're going to be here for a while, aren't we? You might as well start with what you remember."

**.-..-..-.**

Angela inched her bedroom door closed. Raven was a light sleeper, at least in her memory, and a phone call in the same room might wake her.

She didn't have a landline, and didn't need one. As far as Angela could tell, it was common for someone her age to only have a cell phone. It would be more convenient, with a few trips she planned to make. She wouldn't be staying in Jump City for much longer, if everything went according to plan.

"Hello, this is Angela. May I please speak to Starfire, Beast Boy?

"Oh, I see. There's no need to bother her if she's training.

"Yes, actually, it is about Raven. She's staying over a little longer than she might have told Starfire. We did quite a bit of work this morning.

"What kind? Magic," Angela said vaguely. Really, Raven had made several drastic alterations to Nevermore.

Angela and Raven had gone through the mirror. The plan was for Angela to go over what Azar had said about the mirror and about meditation. When Angela had met the emotions, however, she couldn't help but notice that she saw six, not eight. Prudence had mentioned Happiness and Affection.

That had started a long chain of events that ended with Raven fast asleep on Angela's pullout couch in the living room.

"No," Angela said, amused, "I won't translate for the magically challenged.

"It's Raven's business, that's why, and there's no use in asking." Angela was pleased that he would ask, but some things were better kept quiet.

"Yes, she'll be fine." Better than fine, actually. Angela would stop smiling eventually.

"Back for dinner?" She glanced at the clock. "Four hours? Yes, I would think so. I worked her through some very challenging spells, so she might still be asleep.

"Yes, asleep. I would imagine magic is something like all the fighting you and your teammates do, but every bit of expended energy comes from the mind.

"Thank you, Beast Boy. Goodbye." She set the phone down gently before opening her door. Raven was still asleep, but Angela didn't have to be loud. Her parents were alive, and had written an article in the local newspaper almost twelve years before.

_Angela, we love you. You will always have a home in Gotham. _

Maybe she wouldn't make her home back in New York, but she could at least look into the price of a ticket or two.

**.-..-..-.**

Tanis leaned back in her chair and smiled. It wasn't a nice smile.

It had taken a solid week, but she knew. Six private investigators, each more expensive than the last, one corrupt cop, several bums on the street that wouldn't ask questions about a free drink, and one waiter- all worth the money she spent. After all, the only portion of the cult's money that she needed was resting safely in a numbered account. Any other baubles she took on her way out of the crumbling headquarters were a bonus.

She would hand Raven to Trigon, the rest of the cult be damned. The spellbooks used had been altered, just slightly. She always had the Eastern point of a casting circle, and had added a few words and new changes to the diagram. When Trigon rose, she would be the dominant point. The man holding North would be surprised, but that was the way things worked when you worked for a demon. Trigon always thought backstabbing an entertainment.

The private investigators had given her Angela's address within a block. The bums had given the correct apartment building, and one enterprising fellow had even been able to figure out which floor. He had even pointed out the likely window, which was all Tanis needed.

The employee from some greasy restaurant, however, had given her the best piece of information. The Titans had dined with a fifth. For a pittance to the cult's accounts, they knew for a fact that Trigon's errant daughter was staying with the Teen Titans.

Tanis couldn't help but smile. In six days, their spelled portal would open. They could have rushed, she knew, but she preferred to take time with the older spell that would work just as well. There was no need to oblige Trigon overly much, and it might have taken three weeks to find Raven.

Everything would be perfect. The slight changes in the spell had already passed unnoticed, which meant that she was the victor in a subtle duel. She would become the to-be-defunct cult's Spellmistress, with all of the trappings and none of the traps.

She knew better than Trigon in some matters. Trigon still thought his daughter would go back to him, but it was too late for that. Far too late.

He never had taken disappointment well, Tanis knew. When it came to disputes between Trigon and anything mortal, Trigon walked away without a scratch. Raven might be strong, and she might have a few unexpected abilities, but she only had two choices. She would take orders from Trigon, or she would die.

Tanis wasn't the betting type, but she could guess how that would end. After a taste of freedom—Raven wouldn't go back. Within a week, Trigon would be out of a portal. With the cult disbanded, and all power in her clenched hands, he would have no way to find himself a new bride. Tanis had planned everything too carefully for that to be a possibility.

She would become the Spellmistress, and take all the associated stores of magic. Trigon didn't want too much turnover at the top, after all. Not just anyone could take that position, no matter how tempting it might be. The current head of the organization had been in power for over two decades. It was time for Blood to step aside, and leave power to someone with a better purpose than taking orders.

She would not continue the long quest to appease Trigon. What was there to be gained? Trigon's wrath was to be feared, it was true—but Trigon would be in a different dimension, and his bridge would be burned. She would have the cult's power, but even those interested in reforming the group would have to find her first.

It was past time that she had the power. She had done everything, and she had barely any of the credit. She had been hardly older than Angela when the entire ordeal started. She had been Tala, then, but names didn't matter. She could find a new one to fit her fancy every few years, to keep any pursuers left alive off of her track.

She had been the one to recruit and initiate Angela. After several failures, she had guessed they needed a girl with magic in her family. She had guided the entire elaborate portal needed for Trigon to come to their dimension with a human form, and had made sure everything had gone just right for the siring of his portal-child. When all had gone wrong and a pregnant Angela had fled, Tanis had tracked her clear to Azarath.

That had been surprisingly easy. If Angela and the monks had been so worried, there should have been a guard in the hall. They should at least have taught the little girl to be afraid. The three-year-old demon's child had willingly followed Tanis. It had only taken some quick lying, and not a hint of magic.

Tanis had paid her dues, and more. It was about time she had a little compensation, even if she had to take it herself.

She looked up when she heard quiet tapping on her door. "What is it, Lauren?"

"Status report," Lauren said, setting it on the desk without hesitation. "More detail on the third bullet point is coming, and should be here within the hour."

"Thank you."

Tanis watched Lauren go. Bright little thing, occasionally, but she didn't quite realize what she was in for. She almost thought—no, that wouldn't work. If Lauren survived the fight that was to come, more power to her. She would be smart enough to get out of the life. If not, she would be one more girl lost to the spells and intrigue and magical politics.

Sad, yes, but not a tragedy. Losing one young life was a tragedy. Losing uncounted young fools was a fact of life. Tanis read through the report, taking in only the necessary details. In six days, she would finally be on her own.

**.-..-..-.**

Raven didn't open her eyes when she heard the door to the roof open. One Titan climbed those stairs regularly, as far as she had seen, and his emotions were distinctive. "Good evening, Beast Boy."

"Uh, evening, Rae. How are you?" He shivered. It would be nice to turn into something with fur, even if it was the Beast.

"Good, thank you. And you?" She did not understand why the exchange was so common, but she did know what to say in return.

"Cold," he complained. "Very, very cold. Mind if I turn into something furry?"

"What kind of furry?"

"You know, the really big kind with fangs and claws that needs someone to watch him." He rubbed the back of his neck with a hand. She had never said no, but there was a first time for everything. She usually looked at him, or half-turned. This time—he'd called her Rae, and she hadn't corrected him. Weird.

"I think he would be fine without supervision, but I will be here for some time longer."

That was the closest he'd get to 'yes.'

He yelped when his bare foot touched the roof. It made more sense to just take everything off, instead of ruining something else. It didn't make the roof any warmer beneath his bare foot. She left her trance, or whatever it had been, but didn't look away from the water.

"Thanks." He gritted his teeth. The cold lasted a few more seconds, and then Beast took over.

Beast hunched his shoulders against the wind and growled unhappily. The wind was too fast for it to be warm. It should not be cold until closer to the white-fall. He looked over at the dark female and grunted. She had dark-skin over her arms and legs, and her long-fabric, but still looked cold.

She made a polite word-sound. He moved closer, away from the shelter by the gate to the big-den. He rumbled disapproval. His fur was not long for cold so early in the year. The wind went through his short fur.

He would have stayed by her side, but she was too small-fleshed to stay in the full wind. If he moved, he could keep the wind away from her.

She part-smiled at him, and put her hand on his arm. "Thank you," she said, nice word-sounds.

He lowered his head so he could butt against her shoulder. It was better than being very careful with finger-claws. He rumbled low in his chest when she didn't pull away. She finally knew that she was part of his pack.

"Would you like to meet all of the Titans?" she asked. "Not today, but another time. They were confused, before." She was polite with her word-sounds, and waited while he unknotted them. The Titans-pack, he could meet them not-today.

He stepped back and bared his teeth. He would not meet the Titans-pack until they would have a suitable contest to decide the lead male.

She shook her head at him. "They are your other half's pack. If you want them to accept you, you need to accept them."

She did not care that he was large, or that he had shown his teeth just feet away from her. She just made the word-sounds.

He growled when he understood her words, and moved his head in a killing shake. The small-form had a pack that was out of balance, with a leader that had not been tested and no second chosen.

She put her dark-covered arms over her chest. "Save it, Beast. If you want to have a chance of helping in fights, you need to get along with all three of your teammates."

Beast dug his claws into the not-stone, leaving scrape marks, but did not growl at the dark female. She did not understand. He wanted the pack to be the best. Without balance, the pack was not the best. She was a part of his pack, now, but did not know.

"Then you cannot fight with them." She would not change her mind. Her expression made small-moves when she looked at him. "I won't be around forever, Beast."

He stared at her. She was going to leave the pack? Forever?

"I will visit, but why would I stay in one place? I was here because I had nowhere else to go. I'm staying for at least a week because this city is going to need me. After that, I'll travel with my mother."

He whimpered, and didn't care that she heard. She was pack, now. She was not supposed to leave.

She frowned, confused-not-sad. "It's okay," her word-sounds said, but she did not sound certain. "I'll visit, I promise."

Her hand was on his shoulder, but he could hardly notice. Pack did not separate, but the dark female spoke of leaving.

"That's another reason to meet everyone else. They're not what you think."

He shook his head, and didn't think to growl.

"Would you-" Her voice was almost a growl, but quiet.

Her hand was small, he thought when she tucked it under his chin. She pressed gently until she could look him in the eyes.

"I will be here for at least a week, and then I want to spend some time with my mother."

He huffed when she moved back. Her dam was her old pack, but she should not leave her new one forever.

"Beast Boy doesn't understand you, and I don't think you're helping him."

Beast snorted. It was not his fault that the small-form did not want to know why Beast could not work with the Titan-pack. The small-form feared him.

The dark female shook her head. "You could help if you wanted to. He will feel much better when you've met with his team."

He bared his teeth at the idea.

"What's wrong with them? Do you have a specific reason?"

The lead male was not right. Beast remembered the lead male angry and yelling, voice loud, with the metal stick and flat balls that exploded. The small-form had been upset with the lead male. The lead male could not be trusted.

She looked at him, like she knew. "Do you have a problem with Starfire?"

The glowing female had been reluctant to fight. He shook his head.

"Cyborg?"

The small-form liked the metal male, even with the smells of oil and grease and metal. Beast shook his head again.

"Robin."

He snarled. He did not like the lead male.

"Would you be willing to meet Robin outside of a fight?"

His ears pressed back against his head as his hackles raised. He growled .

"If your reaction to Robin is this violent, then Beast Boy will only be more careful. You won't get as much time to be out, and can't help in a fight. Even if Beast Boy was in trouble, he couldn't risk you hurting his teammate."

He took many heartbeats to find what her words meant. He rumbled and looked away. It would be wrong to make trouble for the small-form, if there was a battle where the small-form and pack were in danger.

"This is why he's wary, when it comes to you."

'Wary' was a word-sound like scared, he thought, but he didn't know. He liked it when the dark female used new word-sounds, but needed a few times to understand them.

He snorted. The small-form did not have to be scared-wary. He and small-form were the same, but different. Small-form did not like leader male much either, but pretended that everything was okay. Small-form did not want to break the pack.

"Would it help if I talked to Beast Boy?"

He moved his shoulders, which meant that he was not sure. The small-form avoided him. Raven could tell small-form that he did not have to be tight-wary.

She looked at him for long heart-beats, then let air out quietly. "If you change back, we can both get out of the cold."

Beast grunted and closed his eyes. Sleep was better than the cold. Small-form could not block the wind from the dark female, but he could go inside the den.

Raven had expected Beast to move before changing back, not stand right in front of her. She had known that clothes didn't survive the transformation, but somehow hadn't remembered.

"It's freaking cold!" Beast Boy yelled.

Raven had never heard Timid yelp. How could a sound be piercing if it was in her mind?

Maybe it wasn't as cold as she thought. Her cheeks were warm.

Beast Boy didn't feel any better until he was dressed. "Why oh why does it have to be cold? It's August!" he grumbled. "Just because we live on the ocean and we get the wind coming off the water, it's cold?" He looked up. Raven was staring at the horizon, and- no. No way, not Raven.

Beast Boy shook his head. He was cold enough that he was seeing things. Raven didn't blush.

He rubbed his arms. "Want to go inside? I've had enough of the weather."

"I wouldn't mind."

He supposed that was the polite way for saying that she'd just spent however long out in the cold babysitting a giant furry Beast who selectively disliked people.

Beast Boy held the door open for her, even if it meant a couple more seconds out in the cold. It was only fair, when she had helped him.

He relaxed when the door shut behind them. "Jump City usually isn't so cold, this time of year," he said. "Freak cold snap."

"How much colder does it get?"

"In winter, that would be warm," he said. "We get snow sometimes, though. That's fun."

"Remind me to avoid that. It's cold enough outside."

He grinned. "Aw, you'll love the snow. Nothing's better than a good snow fight. You pick the snow up with your hands, make it into balls, and then throw the snowballs at people."

"Frozen water coming out of the sky? That doesn't sound like my idea of a good time," she said.

"It's not that bad," he said. "It's really kind of beautiful, especially from the inside. You have a better idea?"

"A week and a half ago, the news forecasts warned people to stay inside because of the heat wave. That is my kind of weather."

Beast Boy shook his head. She'd been wearing her cloak the entire time, too. "Why do I have the feeling you would like deserts or something?"

"They are very hot, and there aren't very many people," Raven said.

"There are plenty of places that are very hot and do have people. Lots of people."

"I'll start with Gotham, for lots of people."

"You wouldn't like Batman," he said. "He's kind of…" Beast Boy wasn't sure there was a word that would do the hero justice. "Well, he's obsessive."

"I'm not going to Gotham to visit Batman," Raven said.

"No, I'd guess you wouldn't, but he'd probably visit you anyways. He taught Rob, and Rob's… you know. Robin can be pretty intense, Batman's worse."

She listened, and didn't say a word until he trailed off. "Is there a specific reason you and Robin do not get along?"

He almost choked. "Uh- I- it's kind of complicated."

"You might want to work on that. Beast has a very similar problem," Raven said.

"What do you mean?" Didn't it just figure? Beast didn't like Robin. Robin didn't like Beast. Beast Boy was in the middle of everything.

"Beast will be fine with Starfire and Cyborg, but he snarls at the mention of Robin. Whatever your personal problems are, they're carrying over to Beast," she explained patiently.

"It's not a problem, exactly," he tried. She wasn't buying it. "It's just a personality conflict."

"If you cannot fix that, you are going to have a problem with Beast when it comes to your team."

"We're working through it," Beast Boy said defensively. Robin had talked to him about Beast, and about Robin's reactions to Beast. It had helped a little. "It just takes time."

She wasn't going to just drop it. _Distraction, there has to be something- Gotham. _"So, um, you're thinking about traveling to Gotham?" Why did the idea of that sound so weird?

"My mother is planning a trip to Gotham," she said. "So far, the plan is to leave in two weeks."

"You're going with her?" Beast Boy told whatever part of him was upset at the idea to shut up and go away. It was probably Beast.

"Yes," Raven said.

He couldn't tell what she was thinking, which was weird. Usually he could get a hint from her expression.

"Her parents live there," Raven continued. "She hasn't called them yet, and doesn't know if she will call before she visits them."

"Want to know about Gotham? It's weirder than Jump City, I think."

"I have a few other things on my mind," Raven said.

It was a polite way to turn him down, and she was good at being polite. Angela would probably do a better job at describing Gotham, anyway, and it wasn't like he was that great at talking to people and- oh. She was talking to him.

"Have you been to Gotham?"

"Once," he said. "I was really little, about six." His parents had been receiving some award or other. Probably the grant that let them do their research in Africa, now that he thought about it. He didn't like thinking about it.

She changed the subject. "Beast has no problems with Starfire. She could watch him for you."

"Star is more than strong enough, if Beast decides to be a pain." That would work. "Maybe she could start helping you watch him, before you leave? I don't think he'd like a sudden change."

"I would have suggested that, yes. I have mentioned to Beast that I will be leaving." She frowned. "He didn't take the idea well. I have not fought him, as your teammates have, and he might associate me with regularly being able to move around."

"That, or-" Beast Boy stopped talking. No way. "Or he likes you," he said slowly.

"I believe that he associates me with such frequent changes," Raven said politely.

She didn't want to talk about it. She was the empath. He probably had it all wrong. "That might be it," he agreed. "Starfire has Robin, and eventually Robin will want to spend time with her."

"That will not make him any more fond of Robin."

"Exactly my point," Beast Boy said. "I'd have to explain things to Rob, and then Rob would be upset but wouldn't want to show it, and then he'd just be more anal than usual."

"Beast could probably have helped in some of the fights Starfire has mentioned. He just needs to know who would be in charge of the team."

"Beast would want to fight Robin for it, probably. That wouldn't go well." The common room was much, much warmer than the roof. "Hey, want to play GameStation?" He knew the answer, but it was worth a shot.

"No, thank you."

He shrugged. "Suit yourself." He watched from the corner of his eye when she moved to the part of the room farthest away from the television. He turned down the volume, just so he could be polite. Whatever magic she had been doing that morning, he thought it had worked. This time, when she closed her eyes and all the small changes in body language said she was relaxed—she was smiling, just a little.


	22. Chapter 18

_This is the chapter that just didn't want to work. It's a transition chapter ("of doom" is implied and correct), because the characters need just one more day before some of the action starts picking up. _

**Chapter Eighteen  
**A very confused Beast Boy wandered into the gym's observation room at fourteen past eleven. "You guys left a note on the kitchen table?"

"If you could sleep through this, we weren't going to try to wake you up," Cyborg said. "They've had four rounds already, and are just getting ready for the last. Right now, it's a tie."

"What's going on?" Beast Boy asked, looking through the reinforced windows.

Raven and Starfire were standing on the floor of the gym, talking quietly and taking long drinks from bottles of water. Starfire had a few bruises showing dark orange, Raven had a spreading dark bruise and a cut, no cloak in sight.

"Tamaranean sparring match," Robin said. "Both combatants need to be able to fly for the basic version. They're doing the full version."

"Starfire's at full strength," Cyborg said. "The two of them spent the last four matches testing out weaknesses. Raven can hold a shield against a punch, Starfire can hold off something being thrown with telekinesis. The loser enters an uncontrolled dive. It's good sportsmanship to grab the other fighter before she's within five feet of the ground."

"Or the wall, or the ceiling."

Beast Boy looked over the gym. "Is that safe?"

"Not especially, but they're both careful. We walked into the booth while the second fight was going on. I have no idea how you slept through this, B. They've both been yelling, very little of it in English, and I think they broke the new practice dummy." Cyborg pointed to the far corner. "See the splintered remains? I'm pretty sure that was Larry IV."

"Wasn't Larry IV supposed to be Tamaranean-proof?" Beast Boy decided 'supposed to be' was the important part of that sentence.

"I'll call the Justice League," Robin said. "If I'm lucky, there won't be any crises, and the lucky hero on monitor duty can give me a few recommendations. They have equipment Superman hasn't destroyed yet."

"Not that those two need equipment for this," Cyborg said. "They're going again." He watched as they rocketed away from the ground. It made no sense, in terms of physics. He didn't think about flying and physical laws at the same time. It saved him from a headache.

"So, how does this—"

"_K'ltnar tsr nabhv!"_

"Start?" Cyborg asked while Beast Boy covered his ears. "Relax, that's the loudest part. Traditional Tamaranean phrase. I'm not sure what it means, but we can ask Starfire later."

"You and I can ask Starfire later," Beast Boy said. "Robin, you have the best chance of convincing her to not make pudding of any sort. I don't care if I have to slip you the money to pay for dinner, on Earth we celebrate by going to a nice restaurant."

"The puddings aren't that bad, Beast Boy." Robin tried to keep a straight face, he really did. "How were we supposed to know that motile puddings would be attracted to your wreck of a room?"

"I cleaned it, alright? My room didn't deserve to have a pudding cowering in the corner." Beast Boy's room was still cluttered, but at least it wasn't a biohazard.

"So, Rob, you didn't say 'no' to talking to Star," Cyborg said. "You're on the hook, congratulations and best of luck to you. My sensors couldn't make out what that last… creation was, and I'm not letting it near a mass spectrometer."

Beast Boy looked into the gym. "Wow."

"Yeah," Cyborg said. "Something, isn't it?"

The action was too fast for Beast Boy to follow. The flashes of starbolts and sudden swathes of black didn't help. There was surprisingly little contact. Starfire was a little faster, but Raven could make portals faster than he could blink.

"They've been at this for how long?"

"Couple hours, now," Robin said.

Beast Boy might have guessed. He dragged a chair in from the kitchen and settled in to watch. How many chances would he have to see a fight like that?

**.-..-..-.**

"No, at the end of the fight," Beast Boy said. Starfire had spent the first half of dinner explaining the rules of the fight, and trying to teach them a few Tamaranean phrases. So far, Raven and Cyborg could mimic the pronunciation, and he and Robin were close. "You know, when Raven moved in fast, with the light-thing, and we couldn't figure out what happened." Starfire and Raven had stared at each other, then at the way Raven's hand was glowing, and then at Starfire's arm. They had spoken for a minute, too quietly for anyone in the observation room to hear, and then a confused Raven had left to call her mother.

Now, she shook her head, half-smiling. "It was supposed to be an attack," Raven said. She pushed her empty plate away. "Against demons, that would have hurt. The way I had it, it would have barely stung a demon about Etrigan's size, but I was going for the shock value."

"You certainly had it," Starfire said. "When Raven tapped my arm, it did not hurt. It instead felt quite nice."

"That's when my arm started to hurt. Starfire's bruises disappeared. I've never done something like that before, so I wanted to ask my mother if she'd heard anything like it. Healing is from her side of the family," Raven finished. "Apparently, it's only a weapon against demons."

Starfire laughed. "I should not find it so funny, friend Raven, but the expression on your face must have mirrored my own."

Raven cracked a smile. "Imagine your starbolts fixing concrete. It was about that surprising."

She listened to the discussion that followed, about just how starbolts would fix concrete (Cyborg and Robin), what else they might do (Robin and Starfire), and how they could be related to zombies (Beast Boy). From the good-natured groans that followed the mention of zombies, it was an old topic.

When she asked what on earth a zombie was, three Titans just about leaped over the table to put a hand over Beast Boy's mouth.

"Later," Cyborg said. "For the love of California, ask him later. The rest of us have heard it before."

They pulled back, leaving a disgruntled Beast Boy to mutter something about monkeys.

There wouldn't be a good time to mention it. 'My father is showing up in five days, because the cult—you know, the demon-worshipping cult that somehow managed to get someone inside your police force—is making a portal for him.' She couldn't think of an ideal circumstance, but this was close.

So, when Starfire asked what was troubling her, she knew very well that shoving it off wouldn't help. Every book she'd read said that, and her mother agreed. There was one thing to do.

Raven took a deep breath and told them.

**.-..-..-.**

Angela really liked people, sometimes. Raven had told the Titans that Trigon was going to show up in five days. They had stared for a few seconds, of course, but when they had started talking—Angela could just kiss them, but they were entirely too young for that, probably wouldn't appreciate it, and they definitely preferred the cookies.

_Focus, Angie. _

Raven had brought her to the Tower to talk to the others. The Titans had immediately started asking how they could help, so Angela, of course, began a proper council of war in the Tower's kitchen. She brought the ingredients, they had all the kitchen utensils a cook could ask for.

She swore them all to secrecy first, of course, before opening her paper grocery bag. They had stared like she was insane when she announced they were going to make the infamous Roth family cookies. She probably was, but it was an easy way of putting people at ease. She didn't want to step on any toes, but she was a touch more experienced with just how to counter a demon magically. It was easier to contradict superheroes in such a relaxed setting.

Raven had imagined that she would fight alone. Angela had predicted as much. She had four Titans ready to back her up when Angela very bluntly informed her daughter that going alone was not an option.

By the time the first batch of cookies was on the drying rack, minus six that had been confiscated for quality control, they had a game plan. Raven and Angela agreed that Trigon would bring reinforcements, fire-sendings. Bringing additional demons would weaken the cult's portal far too much.

Raven had out-maneuvered her on one thing. Angela wouldn't be at the main fight, against Trigon.

If Angela could stop the cult, she would close the portal. That would shorten the fight considerably. When that logic alone hadn't been enough, Raven had mentioned that she really, really didn't want her mother to get squashed. It was said with a smile, and had surprised Angela enough that she had agreed to take care of the magical line of business.

The Titans would clear out the fire-sendings, then help Raven. She had insisted, and wasn't about to back down on that point. At the end of the night, they had most of the strategy set. There was only one more thing to do before Angela called it a night.

She was going to do her best to ruin Raven's one-on-one battle. She was visiting Jason at the Eight Palms resort, and she was bringing a bribe.

She had saved half a dozen cookies, and left the rest at the Tower. Growing teenagers were always hungry, even when they didn't get quite a bit of strenuous exercise. Beast Boy and Cyborg had mentioned something about Raven and more hands-on experience, Starfire had agreed, and Angela knew that was it. From what little she had seen, Starfire could convince Robin the sky was green.

Angela stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for the fourteenth floor. People were much more superstitious than they thought. If old sayings didn't matter a whit, why wouldn't hotels just label the thirteenth floor for what it was? The numbering went from twelve to fourteen without a gap in the rows of buttons.

The doors opened without a sound. She paused to look at the framed artwork on the wall before walking down the carpeted hall. She hadn't the faintest idea what it was supposed to represent, or why the hotel would see fit to buy it.

She really should stop distracting herself and get it over with.

She counted doors. 1408 was in the same place, and still looked a little different from the other doorways in the long corridor.

It was ridiculous. The idea of knocking on the door made her heart beat a little faster, and she didn't know if she wanted to get it over with or run back to the elevator before he knew she had been there. She had tried to make it a little more obvious that she was interested, but he didn't seem to notice. That meant that she was too subtle, or he was too polite. It could be that she had no experience at all with this sort of thing, except what books, television shows, and movies could offer, but—

She really needed to stop dwelling on it and just say what she meant. If he was being too polite because he had a century or nine on her, she could let him know that didn't bother her. If he was being polite because he didn't want to just say "no," she just wanted to get it over with so she could feel a little less like a teenager with a crush.

_Azar help me, I need to try._

Angela knocked on the door.

"I brought cookies," she announced cheerfully. Angela could whisper to deactivate the wards set around the door and perimeter, but that wouldn't be nearly as fun. "I was just visiting the Titans. Raven's getting much, much better with her portals. She just had a long sparring match with Starfire this morning."

The door opened, but not all the way. Jason had a cell phone pressed to his ear. Angela might have been away from the planet for a few years, but she recognized the Justice League's symbol when she saw it.

"Raven told the Titans about Trigon. Robin wants to talk to you about strategy ASAP," she said in an undertone. He was busy. She saw a chance to leave without any awkward conversations, and she took it. She wasn't ready for this. She didn't need to end a good day with that talk.

Angela handed him the cookies, smiled, and walked back to the elevator. She looked calm, except for the nervous energy in her steps and the tight grip on her purse. Azar would be proud.

He should say something. She hadn't come all this way just to say a few things across his threshold. He could say her name, and she'd come back.

He watched the elevator doors close.

"Sorry, J'onn. Someone came by with a message. Could you repeat the question?

"Yes, I will be here for another week. Understood. If we do need additional help, I'll contact them myself. There will be too much magic for Superman to be comfortable, and the Teen Titans are on scene. Consulting Batman could make things very complicated very quickly. Robin, lots of magic.

"In five days, at an undetermined time, rather large demon. If I do need help, I'll call Zatanna. She would be the most help if we did have an unexpected problem. Please tell her that I will request help only if necessary."

He listened for a moment. Jason almost wished that someone with a little more interest in prying had been on monitor duty for the Justice League. Flash, Plastic Man, or Green Lantern would have all asked by now. Clark would have made some insinuation or other. Bruce would have rumbled something disapproving of magic and waited for Jason to mention how Robin was doing.

J'onn wouldn't ask. If Jason wanted to talk, he would have to start the conversation.

"Have a few minutes, J'onn?" It was a safe question. Anyone on monitor duty had at least a few hours they could waste on conversation.

"It's about the visitor," he began slowly. "Her name is Angela."

**.-..-..-.**

"Friend Robin? I had thought you were finished doing the research tonight." Starfire let herself into his small office after a moment of hesitation. This place was more personal than his bedroom, she thought. Cyborg spent more time in the garage, Robin spent more time in the dark room with newspaper clippings on the walls.

"I had a few ideas."

"I am sorry that the rest of us abandoned you for a time. We did not intend for that to happen, but friend Beast Boy wanted me to be present while Beast and Cyborg met. Beast is very different than I thought. He understands much more of the English."

Starfire frowned when Robin was silent. "I do not understand something, however. You and friend Beast Boy have been strained in relation for some time, now. I do not understand why you allow this to continue. Friend Beast Boy did not mean for this to happen, and Cyborg has said that the chemicals only hastened a long process."

She had tried to be encouraging. She had tried to keep everyone happy. She had not tried being direct, Raven's favorite approach.

"I believe you should apologize to friend Beast Boy. Even belated apologies are meaningful, and you did make a mistake," Starfire said firmly. "We all have made mistakes, and we all must learn from them. We forgave you freely for becoming the Red X, and understood what happened when Slade chose you for an apprentice."

His jaw tensed, but he said nothing. They had already had that fight.

"I think that an apology, or at least a civil conversation, could heal many ills. It disturbs me to see that Beast has such a reaction to your name. I do not like my friends to be angry with each other. That creates _rekmas, _the drifting, which causes friendships to become nothing."

"Did someone tell you to talk to me about this?"

Starfire shook her head. "If you are speaking of friend Raven, she did not. No one told me that I should speak with you, but I feel that it is becoming a matter of four and one."

Robin didn't look over his shoulder. "So, we're taking sides now?"

"No, Robin. We are not."

Some things were too important to risk, and Starfire thought he cared more than he wanted to show.

"You have said you do not wish to be like the man of bats," she said, very gently. "That you left because he became inflexible, would never apologize, and would not allow others the chance to prove themselves."

He would want to figure it out on his own, she knew. On her way out, she flipped the light switch. He would strain his eyes, reading in the dark. "Should you resolve your ideas, friends Cyborg and Beast Boy are holding a tournament. If you are to remain locked in your office, they might be forced to think that you fear the kicking of the butt."

"That's low, Starfire."

She could hear him smiling, even from outside the room. "Perhaps, but you did once offer to demonstrate how the game is played. May I take up your offer?"

"You can take me up on that, sure. I'll be there in a minute."

Starfire knew he would be at least five minutes, but he would be out. He just took a little longer than some. Someday…

She made her way down the hallway, her feet a foot above the floor. Someday, he would not be so nervous to think of giving her a second lesson in English.


	23. Chapter 19

_The end scene of this chapter would not have happened without Kayasuri-N working with me, because both parties involved in that conversation are a handful and a half. Who would be that obnoxious? You'll know when you see them. _

**Chapter Nineteen  
**Carmen Davis's demotion had just been made official, and she had never been happier.

Some lucky schmuck would partner with Jenkins as senior detective. She was heading Jump City's newly created Irregular Investigations Department. The icing on the cake was the pay raise that came with her new position. Jenkins had turned a satisfying shade of purple, and he wasn't her problem to deal with.

Sophie knocked on her open door. "Visitor for you, and Joe said that your new nameplate will take at least two more days."

"Thank you, Sophie." Carmen sized up the interloper in one long glance.

Fitted blue jeans, ribbed black tank top, tennis shoes that still white around the soles. Late teens to early twenties, a complexion the fluorescent lights did interesting things to, purple hair, very direct gaze.

The girl (woman?) stepped into her office. As she did, Carmen had another second to take in details. Bindi of some sort in the center of her forehead- red, which was the usual color. A television journalist wouldn't go anywhere without makeup. She didn't have anything to take notes with, which ruled out a reporter. She was too underdressed to be a lawyer.

Very nice posture, even steps, confident.

Carmen was stumped. "You're not a reporter or a lawyer."

"No, I'm not," her visitor agreed.

"Poker player?"

"Pardon?"

"It's a card game," Carmen explained. Her instincts said that clue was important. She stayed relaxed.

"Ah. Why do you ask?"

"Poker players are very good at not showing emotion." _Wait for it. _"What brings you to my office, Ms…"

"You don't remember me, detective?"

Right body shape, right voice, right turn of phrase- and right resemblance to Angela.

Carmen shook her head. "I should have known, Ms. Roth. Look into poker." She tapped a pen against her cluttered desk. "Why do I get the feeling you're not here to say hello?"

"My mother and Mr. Blood just confirmed a date. In four days, it would be best if the area around the police station and the site of the library is free of civilians. The Titans would have told you, but I can give you a more accurate approximation of what to expect."

Carmen didn't understand just yet, but she would. "I knew it. You'll be just as bad as Robin, not one word to me until there's something that'll make my job more complicated." She _liked _complicated, but didn't need to mention that. The Titans just might take her seriously.

"My father and I had a difference of opinion. I've been staying with the Titans."

"But?" Carmen prompted. There was always a "but," with these things. Always.

"He misses having me around so much his cult is making a portal. Theirs will two hours, and has taken three weeks to set up."

Carmen whistled. "Definitely wants you around, then. What's the bad news?" There was always a "but," and there was always bad news.

"Jason was less than honest," Raven said diplomatically.

Definitely had her mother's eyes.

Carmen could think of one possible meaning for that. She hadn't been able to figure out why a world-renowned expert had drawn a blank on possible relatives on the father's side. Not a single suggestion, even in a follow-up call. "Who's involved in a custody judge's nightmare?"

"Trigon."

Raven sounded confrontational, but Carmen was an old hand at interviews. The tone said confident, the posture said certain, and the eyes said unsure.

Carmen shook her head again. "I knew it. Whenever someone from that tower comes in here, there's trouble. If that wasn't enough, you are just as bad as your mother." Raven had probably expected a reaction, but Carmen had dealt with an odder case. Probably.

"Thank you."

Carmen grinned. "I don't mind trouble one bit, when I have fair warning. When I don't, it's much harder to enjoy the chaos."

The supernatural wasn't as tricky as she had thought. When the case started out impossible to explain in conventional terms, putting a report together was much easier. A little creativity was necessary. Bureaucratic language left very little room to explain that a stray starbolt had shattered a bank window.

"You will be able to evacuate the area? It would be much harder to keep everyone safe, if you were not."

"I'll have to do a little fast writing on the evacuation notices, but I'll make sure everyone is out for the day," Carmen said. "If I can manage, I'll take over Murakami High School's gymnasium as a place to stick stragglers. The school won't need it on a Saturday."

"The chaos will last two hours, at the most."

Carmen didn't ask. Sometimes, it was better to leave the details where they were. She didn't have time to investigate everything. "I'll have to talk to a few people to figure out just how much I can do. We can evacuate the area, but it'll take some paperwork." Sometimes, it was easiest to conveniently forget which paperwork was meant to apply to certain cases. Hm.

Inspired, she pulled out a blue file. "Could you stop in tomorrow with details on who needs to be evacuated?" Carmen asked. "An approximate geographic area and timeline would be wonderful, if you can get it. If your mother wants to stop in, then she could sign a couple papers for me."

"Papers?"

"Oh, just a few legal things," Carmen said vaguely. "All in English, thank goodness, not the mangled dialect that lawyers like." She gave her most blameless smile when Raven eyed her suspiciously, then went back to the file.

"At the same time?"

"Around two would be lovely, yes. I'll see you tomorrow, Raven."

If she drew up an official custody form, paired it with a domestic violence report, and put in a request for a DNA test… Carmen dug through her drawers, trying to remember just where she had put the documents.

Raven was still a minor, the lab techs could do a fast test for maternity, and there wasn't a statute of limitations for felony violence against a child. She would bet a week of normal paperwork that Raven could name an instance or two of violence or gross neglect. Trigon would officially be an unfit parent, Angela would have custody, and anyone that wanted to prosecute for property damage or injuries could sue Trigon. Courts wouldn't hold a minor responsible, especially not with the before and after pictures, some choice testimony, and her signed statement on the closed file.

Carmen was quite proud of that small pile of paperwork.

Sophie slipped through the door and put her hand on Carmen's forehead. "Are you feeling okay? I could have sworn you just smiled at all this." Sophie took the pile of papers and a scribbled note. Someone had been busy.

"You're the psycho that does this stuff all day."

"That's because I handle the tricky pieces of paperwork," Sophie said. "Tricky paperwork usually is about the interesting stuff." Anything Carmen was doing voluntarily had to be interesting. "Mind if I look?"

"Not at all." Carmen had been happy to find a solution, and was happier to let it become someone else's responsibility. "You can let me know if this could work. You'll never guess who was just in to see me."

"Raven."

Carmen stared.

Sophie grinned. "I was up front at the visitor's desk. She signed in as Raven Roth, and who else would talk to the head of the irregular department?"

"That's just cheating."

"That's using all clues available to me," Sophie corrected as she shuffled through the paperwork. "I'll have it taken care of by tomorrow morning. All you'll need are details, signatures, and a quick chat with one of our lab technicians."

Carmen thought about just which projects she could finish with the rest of her afternoon. That was a mistake. Moments later, her radio blared static.

"Car eight-five to seven-seventy, please respond."

"That's you, Carmen," Sophie said. "I'll talk to you later."

Carmen had her own radio designation, now. If someone was calling her, then the Titans were involved, or were on the way. "Seven-seventy listening."

"Requesting help securing ongoing crime scene. Two cruisers and your lovely self."

"Connection just came through as secure," Carmen said. "Stop flirting over the radios, Mitchell, and give me the situation."

"Mumbo Jumbo. The Titans intercepted at the main drag just across from the museum, just off Pritchard Avenue. We're establishing a one block perimeter."

"Why do you need the extra cruisers?"

"Tourists."

Carmen shook her head. That explained it. "Expect me in five, Mitchell. How does it look?"

"Bad. All we see is the hat. We're keeping a solid perimeter because no one's getting too close, after last time. The Titans have been in there for five minutes."

She scanned her belt with a hand, checking all the compartments and snaps. As she reached her cruiser, she checked for her gun, cuffs, her radio, and her badge. "I passed dispatch. They have every word, and the officers will be there in two. I expect radio contact the instant something changes. If the Titans are still fighting when I get there, we'll think of something."

"Understood."

"Davis out."

Carmen drove out of the parking garage at a perfectly reasonable rate. Once she had the lights and sirens, though… well, what could she say? She liked driving fast. She was completely safe about it, but there was something to be said for ignoring the speed limits on the way to a crime scene. She already had an idea for a way to take Mumbo in with minimal fuss.

She parked by car eight-five and looked around. "What's happening here, Mitchell?"

"Not a peep out of the hat, Davis. Verde's keeping watch on the other side of the block. She wisely took my suggestion to divide and conquer."

Carmen read Mitchell's grin. He'd pushed a few too many of his partner's buttons.

"Department still doesn't appreciate murder, Mitchell. It's bad for morale." Carmen looked over the scene. Unnaturally empty street, one magician's hat.

"Verde wouldn't shoot me, Davis," he protested, eyes still on the hat. "The pepper spray- well, yeah, that just might happen someday."

Carmen hadn't put in any money in the station pool about those two. A visit to the hospital's intensive care unit seemed a little drastic. She expected a minor injury, a sympathy date, and partner reassignments. Cops that were dating didn't patrol together.

"You have a plan, Davis?" he asked casually.

"Yes, actually."

Pause.

"Mind sharing with the class?"

"It's not a very detailed plan," Carmen said. "All you need to do is stand there, keep your hand off the gun, and be professional. Got it?"

Mitchell shook his head. "Why do I have the feeling I'm not going to like this?"

"There's a reason I'm in the weird stuff department. When you call me in, it's not going to be a normal case." Carmen was going to be saying that the rest of her career. She didn't mind. "The only allowance you'll need to make for this case is turning in your report a couple days late."

"Would it be easier if I didn't know about this just yet?"

"Yes, actually."

Mitchell gave her a lazy salute. "Got it, boss-lady. I'll go check the perimeter and try to bully the tourists away. If you need help, I'll be close. If you don't, I'll be quite contentedly looking the other way."

Carmen smiled. He might drive Verde crazy, but she liked him. He did his job, he played everything off as casual, and he would find some perfectly logical way to write up the entire incident.

She had a very simple plan. There was nothing she could do against a villain like Mumbo Jumbo, armed with pepper spray and her gun. She walked in a slow circle around the hat, looking for anything out of place. She suppressed a triumphant grin when she heard quiet footsteps start about ten feet to her right.

"Afternoon, Miss Roth." Carmen loved it when her plans worked.

"Good afternoon."

"I hoped you might still be in the area. The Titans are in there." She pointed at the hat. "They're fighting a magician named Mumbo Jumbo. He can control what goes on inside that top hat. I know you've probably not seen something like him before, but…"

"I could take a look."

Carmen might be fine with Raven, and the Titans, but that didn't mean she wanted to watch voids opening up in the air. She politely looked away when the air started turning into… something. She wasn't superhuman. She was a cop who trusted her instincts, even when things got a little strange.

She pulled the radio from her belt. "Seven-seventy to eight-five and any responders. The situation is still in progress, but under control."

"ET?"

"Estimated time unknown, but keep the spectators out. No show today, no press meeting. That goes double for journalists and reporters."

The 'secure' light on the side of her radio glowed blue.

"What if a journalist asks for you special, Davis?"

She could hear Mitchell's smirk through the radio. "Then you tell Williams that he can use the press releases same as everyone else, Mitchell."

"Harsh, Davis. Very harsh," Mitchell said. "You're dating the man."

"Mitchell? Do you really want to go into personal lives?" she asked sweetly.

Silence.

"Thought so. Tell Williams that I'm off at seven, which gives me plenty of time to be ready at seven thirty. I have a job to do. After that, get to work on keeping everyone back. I'm not sure if Mumbo will want to go out with a bang, again." She had one hand on the radio, and one hand on the special cuffs. Mumbo liked visual gimmicks like picking locks, so the station had put in an investment. He was still trouble, out of the hat, but not nearly as much. She only had a one in ten chance of getting changed into something.

She watched as a large portal opened, noticing that it was about as long as her cruiser. That was it, details. As long as her cruiser, about ten feet high, didn't seem to move at all, solid black, didn't seem to cast a shadow. Angela called it a portal, and that was good enough for Carmen.

She felt much better when it was gone and she had a suspect in her line of sight.

Mumbo was spooked. He didn't even try to talk himself up while she read him his Miranda rights and cuffed him.

"Thank you for your help, Titans, Miss Roth," Carmen said. "Tomorrow at two o'clock still fit your schedule?"

"I can work it in."

"Excellent. It won't take long, but it will help me figure out where civilians shouldn't be. Robin, if you wouldn't mind giving a statement? It can be a brief one, since we made the alterations you and Cyborg suggested. I'll call you if we need clarifications, you don't need to do a full write-up." That would be her job, but she had full permission to be ambiguous when judged necessary.

Some days, she really liked her job. Especially when she would walk out at the end of her shift and have a date in half an hour.

**.-..-..-.**

There wasn't much to see in the small room. Robin's office, as he called it, was dark except for the glowing computer monitor. The only sounds were a pen against paper and a dull hum from the computer. Newspaper articles and internet printouts were posted on the walls, most of them about Slade.

"Would you mind a brief interruption?" Raven asked from the doorway.

"Probably not." His muscles tensed as he set down his pen. "Why?"

"Beast," she said, just as directly. "Just what happened, the first time he changed?" She had already heard from the others.

"Before he changed, he was argumentative. He almost attacked Cyborg and Starfire. After he changed, he tore up his room, broke a door and window, made his way downtown, and threatened civilians."

"Did he hurt anyone?"

Robin frowned. "No, but the civilians were backing away."

"Have you seen how fast Beast moves?" She leaned against the doorframe, but didn't move any closer. They both liked their space. "If he had wanted to hurt someone, he would have been quick enough."

"That doesn't matter. The intent was enough." He was glad that she couldn't see his expression. He had just repeated something Batman always said.

"There's what you say, and what you feel. Lying to an empath isn't that easy."

"I thought you were a telepath."

Raven shook her head, not that he was looking. After an initial glance, he had looked back at the paper in front of him. "Empathy, portals, telekinesis, healing." He would be the Titan interested in a list. "Emotions are harder to fake than thoughts."

"Ah." It made an illogical kind of sense, which always seemed to be the case with the supernatural. He shrugged. "It doesn't matter, now."

"Lying again already?"

"I'm not lying."

She didn't have to be an empath to hear the tension in those words, or to notice that they sounded rehearsed. Sometimes, people just weren't ready to be honest. "Do you think you did the right thing?"

"I think I took the most reasonable course of action. Whether it's right or not, that depends on who you ask."

"Empathy again. The emotions going between you and Beast Boy are enough to give me a headache, and there is a reason Beast snarls when he hears your name. He's fine with Cyborg and Starfire." She put an edge on her words to differentiate from her typical monotone. "If you looked at video surveillance of what happened in the city, you wouldn't see him putting any civilians in danger."

Robin turned to face her. "Are you here to lecture me on proper behavior? Considering your track record, I don't think you qualify for the position."

"That's your best attack? Considering my track record," she mimicked, "you'll have to do a lot more than that."

Behind the mask, he lifted an eyebrow. Maybe she had brushed off the insult, but he had hit a nerve. He didn't have to be an empath to see how she had stiffened. "I'd like to keep the Tower standing, so I won't."

"If you could bring yourself to admit you were wrong, you could fix this," Raven said. "Isn't that the way civilized humans handle things?" What had she even bothered to talk to him? It wasn't like he would be her problem for much longer. "And don't flatter yourself. If I lost control because of you, the only thing to go would be that computer."

She had nothing else to say to him, obviously, because she turned on her heel and walked away. She had the last word, but she had been the one to retreat.

Robin frowned. Why did it always come back to Beast? It had happened. He had reacted like a detective, keeping his personal opinions separate from the facts. It was the only way to reach an objective conclusion. It had always worked, in Gotham.

Jump City wasn't Gotham. He wasn't Batman.

That didn't mean that someone who hadn't been there could tell him he was wrong. The facts were still there.

Beast… had caused minor property damage when fighting Adonis. Even Adonis hadn't been hurt badly. Beast Boy's injuries were worse.

Beast Boy's aggressive behavior towards Cyborg was strange, after the exposure to chemicals, Beast Boy had never been rude to Starfire, and Beast Boy avoided meat fervently. He had eaten Robin's meat-heavy breakfast. Something had been wrong before Beast damaged the Tower, and the tunnel that led out from the bay.

Robin typed a quick string of commands, calling up the reports on all structural damage. He knew he was right. At least, he had known. Cyborg had doubted the decision, but he was closer to Beast Boy. Starfire had disagreed, but she was more emotional when it came to teammates.

The tunnel that led from the Tower opened near the edge of Jump City, in an area with little foot traffic and high surveillance. The controls had been destroyed at 11:13 PM. The damage had been caused by very large, very sharp conical objects. Claws. The grainy black-and-white video recordings showed a large beast destroying the controls to the door, then ripping the two panels apart. He had assumed that was transformed Beast Boy.

Good logic never relied on assumptions.

The window had been blown out of the tower at 11:18, shortly before the cameras in the main room were destroyed by thrown debris. The very poor image quality showed a large Beast ripping apart furniture and throwing it about. The door had been destroyed at 11:20. Unless Beast had moved backward…

Robin hadn't considered all facts. He had ignored all personal information he knew about Beast Boy to avoid bias. He had been so well avoiding bias that he hadn't considered every piece of information before making his call.

There was only one logical thing to do. He glanced at the clock. He could stay up a few more hours, easily. He had a case to solve, and he was going to start from the beginning. No assumptions, just the facts. He owed Beast Boy nothing less.


	24. Interlude

_It took a while to remember that fanfic is very much preferable to real life. Looking at the "last updated" information told me as much, because the gap between chapters was going on four months. My thanks to all readers who came back to the story after that gap._

_To all the reviewers--thanks for the muse-food. It was a fic-saver._

**Interlude**

Sophie finished pouring coffee into the chipped brown mug. "You know, you're chief of police in a pretty well-known city, as far as law enforcement goes. You could at least use a mug with the station's logo on."

Joe leaned back in his chair. "Sophie, I don't need your opinion about coffee mugs today. I need your opinion about this report." He passed the single sheet of paper over his desk and waited as she read. "Well?"

"I don't see the problem, chief." She tucked a dark strand of hair behind her ear, letting her hand brush her new earrings. He would pretend not to notice, but he had a good eye for detail. He should be able to recognize this pair, after all the fuss the previous week. "Carmen put the final touches on a few old cases, that's all."

"You're in on it, too." Joe should have known. How had he let this go on for the last four days? Sophie was turning doe-eyes on him, like that had worked during last week's mess with Verde, Mitchell, and indelible dye. His own secretary had turned against him. "Don't you work for me?"

"You and the rest of the station." This conversation could be longer than anticipated. Sophie lounged on the chair he had for visitors, some dark leather construction that was only comfortable if one was sitting sideways. "You didn't want a personal secretary, remember? That's how I ended up in charge of the coffee supply, and as the supervisor for the visitors' desk, and as the chief consult for bringing cases to legal."

Joe wasn't going to be distracted. "Carmen closed the Roth case. When was I going to get an explanation?"

"Her weekly report, due tomorrow. Friday morning at ten, same as usual," Sophie said. "It was simple. There was a precedent of minors raised in isolation by an unfit guardian. All we had to do was take a few affidavits proving that Trigon is an unfit parent, establish that Raven was in fact raised by Trigon, and then prove that Angela is Raven's mother. Raven's officially released into her mother's care."

Simple, right. He would never have the full story that easily. "Why wasn't she in here to tell me about it?" Joe asked. "There has to be something else going on.

"Carmen is already scheduled to meet with you, tomorrow."

He had her. Sophie was fiddling with her earrings, some new pair with garnets dangling on gold chains, and wasn't making eye contact.

"Sophie. You can protect one of my officers from taking the blame in minor affairs. I don't care just how Verde dyed her partner's hair bright blue. Should she care to tell me, I'll probably congratulate her. This, though…" He set a single diagram on the desk between them. "Whatever she's working on, an eighth of Jump City is going to be evacuated." 

"She was going to tell you," Sophie said.

He rubbed at his temple. "Right after orders for the evacuation went out, I suppose." He cut off her protest with a wave of his hand. Joe had to think this one through. "I don't need details, but I need the general event."

"The Cult of Blood is still active. Angela Roth and Jason Blood found traces of a spell that will open a doorway the day after tomorrow for two hours. They're very sure we'll be seeing Trigon again."

"Doorway to Hell?" Joe asked.

"Close enough. I would tell you all the magical information that's relevant, but I couldn't understand any of it," Sophie said. "I have notes, if you want to see them."

"Let's stick with a summary, Sophie."

"Trigon will come through. The evacuation and barricades will be set up to keep civilians away from the fighting. The actual fighting was planned out by Raven and the Titans, and the Justice League will be on hand in case things get nasty."

"Like they were last time," he grumbled. Joe admired the Justice League, sure, but they seemed to be everywhere but Jump City. They had only showed up last time after Trigon was gone. "So, we could be in trouble."

Joe traced a finger over the map of the city. "This part," he said, "is an open park. As long as we're evacuating, we can clear out a full area, and leave an entire perimeter." He added several lines in red permanent marker. "You and Carmen have been doing fine, even if I don't like being kept in the dark." He had given Carmen Davis permission to do just that when he promoted her, but that didn't mean he enjoyed it.

"I'll send notes to dispatch and emergency services. The evacuation starts tonight at 1800 hours tomorrow, everyone is encouraged to bring sleeping bags and to leave valuables locked in basements. Insurance companies get a letter from me the day after warning they aren't claiming act of God. For apartments, the manager will have discretion on how space is divided. You get to call all facilities with an auditorium. Gyms, arenas, high schools- cots set up if they have them, clean floors if they don't. Carmen and an officer of her choice can start arranging food supplies through the school cafeteria, funding to come out of the disaster relief stipend Jump City gets every year. Starting tomorrow morning and ending the day after, the two of you will get to work a ridiculous amount of overtime."

Sophie was staring at him like he'd sprouted a second head. "What?" he growled.

She tucked her hair behind her ear, again. "Surprised, that's all. Thanks, chief." She smiled at him too brightly, slid her legs off the arm of the chair, and smoothed her skirt as she stood. "You're the best."

He finally recognized the blasted earrings. Mitchell, the misguided sot, had presented them to his partner at the last social affair the station had attempted to hold. Despite several loud objections from Verde, they kept ending up in her desk. "Tell Verde that it's one thing to decide her partner needs a new hairstyle. It's something else entirely to bribe accomplices with something recognizable."

Sophie grinned. "I'll tell her, chief, but she wouldn't call me an accomplice. Someone sorted a few boxes for you, and someone ended up with large quantities of very blue dye. The blue dye that a burglary-detection company sent to you for a sample two weeks ago?"

Joe scowled, which was the default expression for any chief of police.

"Your faithful secretary, Joe. I sort your mail, the boxes were labeled, you told me to get rid of it." She stole a pen from his desk and added notes to his printout of recent cases. "The Roth case was the Trigon mess part one, part two to start on Saturday, these three were routine Titans cases, and the rest were Titans cases where Carmen had to explain the presence of a fifth do-gooder. Raven's been tagging along because the Titans tend to make messes, and she can cut down collateral damage." She frowned at the list. "Well, for these five cases, she showed up when the fight was nearly over. When they fought Mad Mod, she was there from the beginning."

He shook his head, but took his list back. She had labeled all of occurrences, and would probably have a full report on his desk by the next morning. "What would I do without you, Sophie?"

"Little more yelling, little more paperwork," she said, half-smiling. She collected the stack of paper in the OUT mailbox. "I'll make sure a new coffee mug makes it into your office later this week."

Joe's hand curled possessively around his battered mug. "It'll be ignored. This one's all broken in."

"That one's nearly broken, you mean. You could do with some change every once in a while, Mr. Routine."

"Says the woman who probably owns two pairs of shoes, both of them high-heeled and black," he retorted. "Talk about a routine."

Sophie smiled at him and twirled, just to show off. "Of course I wear heels, Joe. Somehow, people never expect a lady in heels to be both dangerous and nimble. Anything else you need for today?"

"Messages to Carmen, you get to call all places with an auditorium, and you might need to train an intern today on the tenets of coffee preparation. Last time we had a minor crisis like this, the poor stand-in from personnel was overwhelmed."

"Trigon with a free pass to Jump City for two hours is just a minor crisis?" Sophie prompted, doing her best to look like she'd never heard this one before.

"Sixteen-hour shifts without coffee. Get moving, Miss Wells, you and Carmen will be clocking out by eight. Long day tomorrow, and the day after."

Sophie might have said more, but Verde was dragging her partner towards the chief's office by the wrist. She waved at the chief, deftly avoided the two cops, and made her way to Carmen's office. The break had been nice, but they all had work to do.

* * *

"Jason, we need to talk."

Angela Roth's reflection was not impressed. That was what you said to your boyfriend when you wanted to break up with him. It wasn't what you said to a colleague. Professional thirty-somethings were supposed to be direct and concise. Rambling at the mirror for the last half an hour had not come up with any conclusive way to discuss her concerns like a mature, responsible adult.

Maybe she should just call the Justice League directly. She did run the direct risk of talking to a superhero, but she didn't have a painfully obvious crush on Superman.

"Jason, I think we should talk about this."

Her reflection didn't like that one, either.

The rational approach wasn't working. She couldn't think of a way to keep her emotions in check for a conversation like this. She had learned to center herself in all those years on Azarath, but that was a different world. Azarath was a peaceful refuge from the rest of the universe. There were no wars, petty conflicts were resolved by the end of the day, and there wasn't money. It was an isolated transcendental commune, where everyone had their own task and the entire operation ran smoothly.

It didn't hurt that Azarath was a monastery.

"Jason, I—"

"You are good."

Angela's response was a highly undignified squeak as she cut her sentence off. She spun on one foot to see Jason Blood standing in her living room, ten feet from the door.

"Pardon?" she said when she regained the use of her lungs. "I didn't hear you come in. The front door was open because the air conditioner is broken again, but the wards were set."

"I thought you had heard me," he said. "My apologies."

"No, it's no problem," Angela said. She wondered if it was possible to spontaneously break into pimples. She felt like a teenager in every other way. She hadn't liked this stage the first time through it. "Did you come by for any specific reason? We need to talk."

"You left a voice mail to that purpose. I would guess you have a topic in mind?"

"The Justice League. I would call them directly, but I doubt that I would be taken seriously," she said. "The cult has set everything up. Trigon will be here in two days, and the fight will not be easy. It will be one of the only opportunities that his cult will be forced into the open." _That's it, keep it to business. _"The Justice League plans to help. I would not advise it."

"They are the best, Angela."

"Not for magic," she said. "Precisely what do they plan to do? Trigon is a very large, extremely powerful demon. Zatanna's magic is very messy when dealing with more than one dimension. Any direct intervention from her is likely to be exploited by Trigon or his cult. She's powerful, but not at all subtle. Superman tends to avoid these fights, from what I have researched. Batman doesn't come up to Trigon's ankle. The Flash might be able to run circles around Trigon, but at best will be able to knock him over.

"He's not from this world. He isn't supposed to be here. The cult could barely let him step through seventeen years ago, Jason. He used an assumed form, only could stay for half an hour, and the entire purpose was to conceive a child." Angela flushed at that thought, but she couldn't dwell on it. "He did. If he uses some very old magic, and gets his hands on Raven again, then she can _become_ the portal. I don't think she knows about the second option.

"I think she might be able to win. She has a very good chance, and my side of her lineage has some magic useful against demons. He doesn't want her dead, not while she's his only real link to this world.

"She doesn't trust your Justice League, and neither do I. Where were they the last time the Titans were having so much difficulty? No one flew over to Jump City to help them, and they beat Trigon by default. This time, there's just Raven, and she doesn't want anyone to help her."

Angela refused to feel embarrassed at such a long speech. She had gotten through her points quite well, if she did say so herself.

Jason considered the argument for a moment, then nodded. "I will speak with the League."

She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

He cleared his throat.

"I—" She would regret it if she didn't talk to him. The worst he could do was turn her down. If that happened, then there wouldn't be too much time devoted to awkwardness. "I don't think that's really what we need to talk about."

"No," he said. "Perhaps not."

She was thirty-three, not thirteen. She could save them both some time.

Angela smiled. She wasn't an empath, but from the way he was looking at her… _Azar help me, but I'm tired of keeping my control all the time. _A lady had to take the occasional risk, and this was her chance. "I like you, and would rather figure out the age difference as something happens. If you don't have a problem with my ex… something, maybe we could try dating." She had two fingers crossed, behind her back, and refused to look at the mirror. She was pretty sure that she had blushed to the point of being purple.

Jason made a show of looking thoughtful. It would have worked much better if he hadn't been smiling. "I thought this was supposed to be complicated."

"Since when has either of us done the normal thing?" She was happy enough to hum under her breath as she extricated her purse from the top of her desk. "Want to catch an early dinner? We can talk to the police about precautions tomorrow."

Angela Marie Roth had let her emotions completely take control, and not a single thing had ruptured. _Sorry, Azar, but not all philosophies are universal. _She snapped distractedly at the wards built into her apartment and felt the resulting hum of magic.

He offered an arm. She took it, and only could smile as she wondered just how much of a headache she could have given her daughter at that moment.

* * *

The library in Nevermore was finally sorted through, again, but Affection hadn't opened a single book. That wasn't her task. Instead, she was pacing the cleaned floors and trying to find another way.

"Are you sure?" Affection asked. "I mean, really sure. This is serious, Anger, and I know you've realized that, but it makes me nervous."

"Intellect could take us over because she took away part of my control," Anger retorted. "My power, I want it back. If Intellect can go back to her usual levels of being annoying, then it's worth it. I'm still going to be mad. If I happen to be a little more dangerous, so what? Raven won't lose her temper. Intellect can cause a lot more damage, the way she is now."

Affection smiled crookedly. "I know that, and that we've been over all of this. It's just going to be hard to reach you."

"Is that really going to stop you?"

Affection looked up from a dark splotch on her lavender cloak, and managed to smile properly. "Never, Anger. I promise."

"You're obnoxious, you know that?"

"Just because you never manage to keep your temper at me…" Affection hugged her sister emotion. "Go on, then. It's the middle of the night, so no one else will get in your way and bother things up."

Anger frowned at the large gray stain, and concentrated until it faded into pale purple that matched the rest of the cloak. She had already taken back some of her domain from Pride, and could spare some energy. "They better not."

"Intellect's by the trees Happiness just set up, last I saw. Prudence left to talk to her an hour ago."

Anger acknowledged the help with a curt wave. She took one step, and stepped below a pink cotton-candy tree before her other foot could leave the polished wood floor of the library. Intellect was there, huddled in her orange-yellow cloak, crying without making a sound.

"Intellect, we need to talk," Anger said, trying to sound like Affection always did. She managed a gruff rumble.

"I screwed up, Prudence told me," Intellect said through her tears. "Please don't yell at me. I didn't know that I was ruining everything. He wasn't even _there, _and everything I've done for weeks has hurt Raven."

"Don't be stupid," Anger snapped. "You kept Raven alive for years, and then you weren't needed. Prudence always likes to preach, but she's missing the main point. You were angry."

"I'm not supposed to be."

"No. Eight years ago, you took something from me. You were the one who changed Raven's mind, Intellect. You hid most of us away, and you twisted facts so that Raven would survive on her own. You didn't have the power for that. You wouldn't have, but I gave my power to you so we all could survive."

"You don't sound mad."

"I will be, unless you give it back. You stole what makes me Rage, instead of Anger. That difference is what leads to thoughts Raven would call demonic." It wasn't, exactly. It was the absence of inhibition. Coupled with any emotion, it would lead to a dangerous excess. "I can be controlled without consequences. You need to give it back."

"But then- you won't be safe."

Anger shook her head. "No. I won't be safe. I already took part of myself back from Pride."

"What is she going by? She couldn't decide on Rude or Lazy, before."

"Rude. We decided that we still could work together, for Pride. That'll be a way for me to have a chance at expression." The emotion crossed her red-clothed arms over her chest obstinately when she saw the expression on Intellect's face.

"Anger, I couldn't-"

"You will. It's mine, Intellect. Close your eyes and let me set things back. It won't hurt."

Intellect grabbed her hand. "Anger, I…"

A ghost of a smile showed, even as traces of red glowed on her forehead. "I'll be okay. It's who I'm supposed to be. Just… try to get through to me once in awhile, right?"

"Promise." Intellect smiled as she closed her eyes, and felt that horrible weight lifted away.

She opened her eyes and everything was lighter, even her cloak. Anger's was darker, and she already had changed. Intellect squinted to see Anger's new expression below the four red eyes.

"Your glasses, stupid," Rage said.

Curiosity closed her hand as she focused on the austere spectacles, and wondered what she could do in return. "Thank you, Rage."

"Don't mention it too often."


End file.
